Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning ( Must Read )
http://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/ ^ | Mario

Posted on 07/09/2010 8:16:57 AM PDT by ventanax5

The new captain jumped from the cockpit, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the owners who were swimming between their anchored sportfisher and the beach. “I think he thinks you’re drowning,” the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. “We’re fine, what is he doing?” she asked, a little annoyed. “We’re fine!” the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. ”Move!” he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not ten feet away, their nine-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, “Daddy!”

How did this captain know, from fifty feet away, what the father couldn’t recognize from just ten? Drowning is not the violent, splashing, call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. If you spend time on or near the water (hint: that’s all of us) then you should make sure that you and your crew knows what to look for whenever people enter the water. Until she cried a tearful, “Daddy,” she hadn’t made a sound. As a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, I wasn’t surprised at all by this story. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for, is rarely seen in real life.

(Excerpt) Read more at mariovittone.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: accidentaldeath; coastguard; drowning; firstaid; health; lifeguard; lifeguards; rescue; swimming
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 101-114 next last
To: ventanax5; Fred Nerks; null and void; stockpirate; george76; PhilDragoo; Candor7; rxsid; ...

Must read.


21 posted on 07/09/2010 8:36:37 AM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 531 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: glorgau
Faking was pretty easy to spot.

Sort of reminds me of the fake drowning scene from Sandlot.

22 posted on 07/09/2010 8:37:25 AM PDT by wastedyears (The Founders revolted for less.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: ClearCase_guy
Try being a middle-aged, white Texas father.

If Hollywood ran the world, that alone would be a felony.

And if your middle name happened to be Wayne...

23 posted on 07/09/2010 8:39:32 AM PDT by Tex-Con-Man
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: ml/nj

I’m sure this is embellishment to help illustrate the Captain’s sense or urgency, but I agree, he should have at least kicked off his shoes!


24 posted on 07/09/2010 8:39:44 AM PDT by reegs
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: reegs; ventanax5

I just recalled the terror I felt when my airway was
blocked by phlegm (bronchitis). It’s like nothing else
I can recall. I was just able to move enough to unblock
it. If drowning is like that, one has indeed about 10
to 30 seconds to act.


25 posted on 07/09/2010 8:40:21 AM PDT by cycjec
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Kartographer
Thank you for posting an EXCELLENT article. If you have children or grandchildren this is a MUST READ!

It should be passed along to anyone and everyone you know who is around or on the water.

Thank heavens for email, so easy to distribute information like this.

26 posted on 07/09/2010 8:40:52 AM PDT by TYVets
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: wastedyears

Decent swimmers can’t fake drownings. They know how to keep their head up to well.


27 posted on 07/09/2010 8:40:56 AM PDT by downwdims (It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: don-o
Never read anything that says “must read”. Never.

Never say never.

Make an exception to your rule this time.

Really.

28 posted on 07/09/2010 8:41:12 AM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 531 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: ClearCase_guy

Take a look at The Last Psychiatrist’s blog.
http://www.thelastpsychiatrist.com
Is there a FR keyword like whyTVisbad? if not
we need one.


29 posted on 07/09/2010 8:42:01 AM PDT by cycjec
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido

The original blog site worked fine to me in lynx.


30 posted on 07/09/2010 8:44:32 AM PDT by cycjec
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: cycjec

Thread Hi-jack in progress....


31 posted on 07/09/2010 8:44:54 AM PDT by FDNYRHEROES (In just His first 3 days, the War on Terror became the War on Free Speech.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: ventanax5

Lifesaving information BUMP


32 posted on 07/09/2010 8:45:31 AM PDT by thesearethetimes... ("Courage, is fear that has said its prayers." DorothyBernard)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ventanax5

I can remember being rescued when I was young. I remember seeing these 2 girls sitting on the edge of the pool 3 feet away totally oblivious to my struggle. Fortunately, the lifeguard was also my babysitter and was on the lookout for me - and her station was about 75 feet away!


33 posted on 07/09/2010 8:45:38 AM PDT by RushingWater
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ventanax5

Thanks for this!

Very timely and informative - I posted it to my facebook.


34 posted on 07/09/2010 8:47:18 AM PDT by mommya
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FDNYRHEROES

Instead of bumping hit report abuse


35 posted on 07/09/2010 8:47:33 AM PDT by downwdims (It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: reegs

“fully dressed *may* have meant a t-shirt and shorts.
boat shoes kick off easily.


36 posted on 07/09/2010 8:48:13 AM PDT by cycjec
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: ml/nj
The first thing you do, as I remember from MY training, is to strip to your shorts before you go rushing into the water

Depends on the situation. The parents were standing, so the water wasn't that deep. Removing his shoes might have helped, though, depending on the sea bed type.

I had the training, too.
37 posted on 07/09/2010 8:48:16 AM PDT by ConservativeWarrior (In last year's nests, there are no birds this year.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: reegs

I was caught in a riptide at the beach in LA, but I didn’t realize it because of the wave action. It felt like I was moving forward, but I was being dragged back. A lifeguard spotted me and pulled me out. I was not yet in danger, but he saw a situation that I wasn’t aware of, that could have gotten worse quickly.

Drowning does not look like drowning, and humans are not amphibians. Interesting article.


38 posted on 07/09/2010 8:52:24 AM PDT by bboop (We don't need no stinkin' VAT)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: ClearCase_guy
I've been thinking a lot lately about how TV shows us a false reality.

Those of us involved in gun rights know exactly what you're talking about: "High powered" assault rifles, "Cop killer" bullets, shooting the gun out of the bad guy's hand. What's worse is that our idiot lawmakers believe that fluff. We've got laws here in California that are based on what legislators saw in kung fu movies back in the '70s. Ever wonder why things like Japanese shuriken are illegal here?

I hope I'm not hijacking the thread

Next stop, FReeper Island!

39 posted on 07/09/2010 8:52:44 AM PDT by Redcloak (What's your zombie plan?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: null and void

I never knew this, null and void. Does that mean I watch too much TV?

Kidding aside, good article. Will file this info in my brain.


40 posted on 07/09/2010 8:53:32 AM PDT by azishot
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 101-114 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson