Know the Surprising Signs of Drowning

Following Sunday's news that Akron firefighters found what they believe to the body of Nic Shaffer, 12, of Akron, it's important to remember drownings can unfold anywhere, anytime in a matter of seconds. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that ten people die every day from unintentional drowning, and two of those deaths are children under the age of 14.

Do you know the surprising signs of drowning?

Drowning doesn't look like it does in the movies, the U.S. Coast Guard reported in its Summer 2006 issue of its magazine On Scene.

Despite Hollywood depictions of victims yelling and splashing, drowning is much quieter and victims do not look panicked, according to the article It Doesn't Look Like They're Drowning.

"Without training, we are conditioned first to think of drowning as a violent struggle that is noisy and physical. It is not," Aviation Survival Technician First Class Mario Vittone and Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D write.

When a victim's body begins to suffocate in water, an automatic biological response is triggered.

The magazine lists the signs that a victim has gone into the "instinctive drowning response:"

1. Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary, or overlaid, function. Breathing must be fulfilled, before speech occurs. 
2. Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water. 
3. Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water, permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe. 
4. Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response,drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment. 
5. From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water,with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs. 

Inspired to learn more about water safety? Read these water safety tips from the American Red Cross website.