Drowning isn’t what it looks like
When people drown in the movies or on TV, there is lots of splashing, reaching into the air and yelling for help. Problem is: That’s not what a drowning person really looks like. Water safety expert Dr. Francesco A. Pia coined the term “instinctive drowning response” to describe how a drowning person actually respond to suffocation:
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH FOR HEAD TILTED BACK
The victim tilts her head back in a futile attempt to keep above water. The victim sometimes seems as if she’s trying to roll over onto her back.
MOUTH AT WATER LEVEL
The victim does all she can to keep his mouth above water, so she can breathe. But she fails. Which — at the risk of stating the obvious — is why she’s drowning. This is also why a drowning victim rarely calls for help: She can’t yell if she can’t breathe.
BODY VERTICAL
If this person were swimming, she’d be more horizontal and kicking with her legs. The fact that she’s vertical in the water — yet, over her head — suggest she’s not swimming but rather in distress.
FACING LAND
The instinctive drowning response causes the victim to make for land. Nearly always, that’s what she does.
‘LADDER CLIMBING’
Instead of typical swimming-kicking motions, a drowning victim moves her legs as if she were trying to climb an invisible set of stairs.