What "near drowning" looks like and a story

[anon456, BSN, RN]

I wanted to share these videos because when someone hears that a child survived a drowning, they don't always realize what that means as far as quality of life. I think we as nurses are more aware of this than the general public. I hope that some of you can share these with friends/family and spread the word. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

I was at a cookout at a neighbor's house a few weeks ago. The everyone was talking and eating indoors and the host had stepped inside to get some more meat for the grill. No one was swimming that day. There were six children present, all inside the house. The pool outside was was fenced and had a child-proof lock. None of my children was there and I was enjoying having conversations and not being on mom duty. And then this happened:

Three children went outside. I noticed that no one else either saw them go out or thought it was worth watching. My mom instincts told me to keep an eye on those kids. I started to head across the crowd towards the back door. I saw a ball fly into the pool area, then saw an older boy easily unlock the gate to get the ball and he did not see a smaller boy follow him into the pool area. He actually started to leave the pool area with the ball and still didn't see the smaller boy in the pool area. By that time I had reached the back door and was calling for the small boy to come out of the pool area, other adults took notice of what was going on and were pretty shaken about it.

Here are some videos and articles to share.

A victims mother speaks out

A look at near-drowning decades later

A lifetime of care for kids saved from water

Samuel's Story- a mom's blog with photos

Family wins fight for disabled daughter's care

Fundraiser for near drowning victim

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

I worked in a PICU in Las Vegas in the early 90s and yep, near drownings were a prevalent reason for admission. Very sad.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Happens to adults too. We live near the ocean, but there are also plenty of pools and ponds and rivers around.

Makes a difference in assessment and management if it's salt water or fresh, clean or dirty, and whether laryngospasm prevents water from entering the lungs or doesn't.

[nursel56]

I took care of an 14 mo old near-drowning for a long time years ago as well. The child was finally discharged home I happened to be the one who walked them out. The mom told me next time we saw their child they would be walking. Really sad. When my kid's dad insisted we get an above-ground pool for the back yard I insisted much harder on NOT having it as our back yard backed-up to a home daycare business. Multiple toddlers roaming around. Thanks for sharing and being so observant, anon456.

[HazelLPN, LPN]

I had my share of near-drownings too in when I did PICU. Usually, the ones who fell through the ice in freezing temperatures did better and were less likely to have complications than the ones in warm water as the cold slows down the biological reaction rates in the body and the organs need less O2. They were also less likely to aspirate a lot of water as the cold can cause apnea and the body goes into shock. I had a few kiddos who left the hospital with no complications who had been under for quite a while in cold water.

[Nola009]

So very sad...

[anon456, BSN, RN]

I, too, have taken care of many near-drowning kids. Some last for years and some the families decide to let go. It's heartbreaking because it's 100% preventable. Thanks again for looking.

[RN_rescue_ninja]

One of our twins almost drowned when he was a toddler. I still feel immense guilt and terror thinkng about it. My in laws have a pool, and they are Italian so naturally, lots of loud adults were over for a big family get together (years ago). People were coming in and out, the boys were right there and suddenly one was not! My husband and his uncle ran to the backyard , and there was my son, under the water in the deep end. (Somehow he was trying to tree water and keep his head afloat) I am scared to even think about what would have happened if things didn't happen exactly like that. To lose a child has to be the worst thing in the entire world. No one deserves To go through that. It really does only take a second , even if there are security measures. That has to be driven home to parents.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

We've had a few that we refuse to call "near drowning." Fact is, they drowned. We just were unfortunately able to resuscitate them.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

I remember one drowning where I used to work. The two teens were home with "the baby" they got distracted fighting a siblings do....then they noticed the baby was gone. He had gotten out and onto the pool cover got trapped face down. Horrible.

After frantic phone calls to the ED we told the siblings what to do while the ambulance was responding....they lived down the street from the hospital so they called us. After a frantic resuscitation in wanting to save that baby we actually got a pulse.....I had an instantaneous thank GOD! then a .....what have we done moment. We "saved him" for no quality of life.

So sad.

I have a pool part above ground...deep end underground (expandable liner) attached to our deck. It was alarmed and I NEVER left them alone. I live in the country so no real random kids around. I still watch the kids like a hawk even though they are 17 and 18 years old....actually I watch them and their friends more now that they are older and can really get into trouble....LOL I taught my kids to swim early...we live by the ocean. Life jackets for a LONG time were mandatory.

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Was able to resuscitate a near drowning by the ocean but none yet while in the er. So very sad, the family reactions are heartbreaking. Tearing up just typing this.

[annie.rn]

We had a pool at one time. Four adults were watching four kids swim and one of the kiddos STILL slipped under the water for a few seconds and aspirated a hefty dose of water. My husband pulled him out very quickly and he was able to cough up the water. Physically he was o.k. .... but mentally he was terrified. His mom told us he was a "great" swimmer and didn't need a swim vest. He was in the shallow end when this happened. He was walking along the wall of the pool holding on to the edge when his feet slipped off of the ledge into the deep end and his head went under. He didn't thrash about or anything. It happened so fast and it was completely silent. Eerily silent. If we hadn't been watching, we definitely wouldn't have heard him. We were blessed to be taught a lesson that day without any serious repercussions. After that, I never took a kid or parent's word for it regarding swimming ability. I made them show me how well they could swim and if I wasn't comfortable they either wore floaties or a swim vest.

I cannot even imagine what these parents must go through. God Bless them!