Dry Drowning?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

Has anyone come across this?

GOOSE CREEK, SC--- A 10-year-old boy is dead after drowning on dry land.

It happened when the little boy took a nap after swimming in a pool in Goose Creek, South Carolina -- near Charleston.

During his swim he apparently ingested a lot of water. But that water didn't go into his lungs until he went to sleep an hour later.

His mother said she never saw this coming. "I feel like someone reached in and grabbed my heart and just yanked it out."

Drowning can happen 72 hours after a child swallows a lot of water, so it's important to know the warning signs.

Shortness of breath, a persistent cough, lack of awareness, tiredness or anxiousness are all symptoms.

You should get the person to an emergency room as soon as possible.

WRDW TV Augusta GA TV News.

I have never heard of this nor would I expect to recognise anything wrong with a child who was tired after a day of playing and swimming.

This is so very tragic.

0 Votes

Me either. This is a medical mystery and if you find a link to this story, could you please post it!! Thanks. My heart goes out to the family.

0 Votes
Specializes in Hospice, Critical Care.

Here's some info. Apparently it's more from laryngospasm than a lot of water. It doesn't take a whole lot of water, from what little I've read thus far:

http://children.webmd.com/news/20080605/sc-dry-drowning-death-draws-attention?src=RSS_PUBLIC

0 Votes
Specializes in Too many to list.

What a terrible tragedy. I have never heard of this type of thing before.

Just awful...

0 Votes

i have heard of it before but i don't know how common it is, if he had not laid down and slept he would have probably shown signs of distress and emts would have been called

if a person is in distress when pulled from a pool they need to be taken to er..it is not enough to get them to breathing again

0 Votes
Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho.

This kid had been swimming earlier in the day. I heard that story too and he had been swimming and had inhaled a very small amount of water. Aspiration pneumonia. It was reported he had continued to cough occasionally after the initial episode. It takes elderly and small children real fast if not caught quickly.

0 Votes

And this is probably why the head life guard at the pool where I took swimming lessons freaked and almost jumped in after me when, during a swimming test I swallowed a bunch of water and was coughing.

She called out to make sure I was ok, and then checked again when I got out of the pool.

0 Votes
Specializes in Endoscopy.

Im an not sure if there has already been a post about this so if so, I apologize.

Just about every one of my family and friends with small children have called me (suprise, suprise) in the last day asking about this incident in SC where the young boy died from dry drowning. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24982210/&GT1=43001

Everyone is scared to take their kids to the pool now. So many people are asking "what was the white spongy substance the mother found on his face?". (im guessing its lung tissue??)

I have read up on what I could online, but I dont really get clear answers on causes, etc.

I am very unfamiliar with this type of drowning.

Can anyone shine light on the subject?....or point me in the right direction?

thanks in advance.

0 Votes
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Merged with existing thread for continuity

0 Votes

Could hyponatremia with pulmonary edema be the cause?

So very very sad.

"During his swim he apparently ingested a lot of water. But that water didn't go into his lungs until he went to sleep an hour later....

Drowning can happen 72 hours after a child swallows a lot of water, so it's important to know the warning signs."

0 Votes

This story made me very sad. I couldn't help but imagine him as the story states, playing that day at the pool and then walking home and not feeling well and then falling asleep....it broke my heart that day. I have a son that age. Heaven has another angel... I had not heard of the term "Dry Drowning " :(

0 Votes
Specializes in ER.

When I took lifeguarding lessons 20 odd years ago the instructor terrified me with a story similar to this. He also said that if you eat popcorn and then swim the popcorn will swelll up and block your airway.

I think that cases like this happen once every 10-20 years. How many of us have come home from the beach as kids having inhaled a bit of water, and were just fine? It's a one in a million event, we can't live our lives afraid to let kids experience the world.

0 Votes
+ Add a Comment