Think of this as a public service message! I read this article a couple of years ago --- and this info was surprising to me personally! 

Ironically, that very same summer, a friend of mine was sitting on the deck of her pool with a few mom friends - relaxing, enjoying the day while their tots splashed ONLY INCHES from them. These are responsible, smart women who were btw sober at the time - but they simply did NOT know the signs of drowning. Long story short, one of the kids (who also had some underlying respiratory issues) was drowning right in front of them and they didn't even realize it. They finally yanked her out of the water, and the only woman there who knew CPR worked on the kid until the ambulance showed up (the kid had stopped breathing). The good news is - the child recovered with no lasting damage, each one of these women now knows the signs of drowning, AND they all took CPR training! (like the very next week, they were so traumatized).

I try to send this article out at the beginning of each summer... I post it to wherever I can think to post it. Read it, pls. You never know!

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/family/2013/06/rescuing_drowning_children_how_to_know_when_someone_is_in_trouble_in_the.html 

 

 

Good post. If the weather ever cooperates, timely as well!

And remember, the best "lifeguards" have zero saves, because they can identify problems before they happen.

 

For the TL, DR crowd:

https://brightside.me/inspiration-tips-and-tricks/the-ultimate-guide-for-helping-a-drowning-person-203555/#image3766305

https://brightside.me/inspiration-tips-and-tricks/the-ultimate-guide-for-helping-a-drowning-person-203555/#image13786060

This happened to me about 10 years ago. Changed me forever...

Big pool party with tons of kids. I was standing poolside watching as my 4-year-old swam.

His best friend, wearing swimmy arm things, tries to get out of pool and one of the swimmies slides off his arm. He slips back in the water and his mouth is 2" below the waterline. His eyes go as wide as saucers. There is no panic, no splashing, no noise....only his eyes. He cannot get his mouth above the water line.

I see this whole thing happen and it takes me about 15 seconds to realize what is happening. His dad is right next to him, but cannot see the kid's face.

I, dressed for a bbq with wallet and cell phone in pocket, jump in like a ninja, grab him and basically throw him to his dad.

People thought I was a lunatic until they noticed the kid puking up water.

I think of this several times a year during pool season. It would have been so so easy to not notice this kid going under.

Never, ever, take your eyes off the kids.

Almost lost my brother this way.  Back in the 70's on a family vacation in FLA, my father was watching my brother and sister swim at the hotel pool. He was distracted for a few seconds and my brother lost the "bubble" he was wearing and sunk to the bottom of the pool.

Next think I knew my dad was giving him CPR, he had completely stopped breathing.  Luckily my dad, being a full time fireman actually knew CPR. Ambulance came but he was already breathing by the time they took him to the ER and luckily he was fine. 

The next year we noticed that the hotel we had stayed at no longer allowed kids!

 

 

In my younger days I was lifeguard and EMT trained. More than once performed CPR.  Should be taught in the schools.  Something of value in real life.  So many count on so few to save people.  How many more could be saved if we all had minimal life saving skills.

Scary shit, growin up I spent allot of time on LBI and Hampton bays NY. Witnessed 2 kids at separate times get dragged in by lifeguards I stood by and watched in horror because there was nothing I could do to help. Neither made it. I think about them every time I get into the water. I've taken 2 CPR courses in the past year now that I have a kid. I'll probably take another before the year is out. It's one thing to take a CPR course once, but when the shit hits the fan that one class probably was worthless. It takes quite a bit of training to be able to spring into action and start CPR when it's really needed. 

Bravo. Having had a pool and now living on a lake, the best prevention is teaching them to swim. From as early an age as possible. Our community association has swim lessons starting at 3. You can't put a fence around a lake. We also hold multiple CPR classes and most of the teenagers have taken their turn as lifeguards at our lake beach. We have a very high density of trained life guards. Best way is to avoid vs rescue. Even with all that we have a half a dozen incidents every summer. 

T Bill hit the nail on the head!  CPR training ought to be a prerequisite for a HS diploma.  

I was a 5-Pt First Aider many moons ago.  I've done CPR several times while riding the Squad, even on my own Father.  To me, it's drilled into permanent memory, like shooting.  I can match any form of CPR you wish to do in terms of compression rates.  The old way (15:2), the way from 10-15 years ago, or today's way of mostly compression's.  You start it however you're trained & I can jump-in.  It's like riding a bike to me.  I'll NEVER forget:

Place on hard surface.  Look, listen & feel.  Expose the sternum rip shirt buttons (slip/cut bra).  Hyper-extend the neck & pinch the nose.  Pump your breath into the victim & check for chest rise.  Apply compression's w/o cracking the sternum.  More breath.  Repeat. 

Peel this is a great thread.  Thanks for posting!

Mrs Z fell through ice when she was younger.

Now that it's Memorial Day Weekend - the official opening of the summer season - I'm bumping my thread on how to recognize the signs of drowning.

PLEASE read through the article linked on the original post. You just never know when that info might be needed... desperately!  

Have a safe Memorial Day weekend, everyone! (And watch out for those maniac drivers, too). 

On 5/30/2017 at 9:01 AM, T Bill said:

In my younger days I was lifeguard and EMT trained. More than once performed CPR.  Should be taught in the schools.  Something of value in real life.  So many count on so few to save people.  How many more could be saved if we all had minimal life saving skills.

I realize this is old but want to reply to this.
I Graduated from high school in 2011. I Know that in our Health course, we did learn basic CPR and such.
I Don't believe we got Certified, but we certainly learned it. The smarty pants with extra time could take advanced CPR courses and such that DID certify you.. But the point is that we were taught the basics.. Nothing on Kids and such, but they had those dummys you do CPR on and we'd learned how to do it on adults.

I Agree, though, it should be a mandatory thing for kids coming out of school. It'd save TONS of lives.
They offer that course at my Community college that i just graduated from. It certifies you in CPR and First Aid and a bunch of other crap. You learn how to save people from the water, and all sorts of cool stuff. But.... i had already done my electives years ago and only had Calculus and a Business elective left to graduate.
Unfortunately we're moving now otherwise i'd take the course just for fun/the certification..

You can get free CPR and other emergency training/certifications through your local CERT coordinators. 

13 minutes ago, Displaced Texan said:

You can get free CPR and other emergency training/certifications through your local CERT coordinators. 

For reals? As soon as we're done with the move and i have time to breathe i'll look into this. Would love to take some courses/classes on first aid and such

3 minutes ago, Lambo2936 said:

For reals? As soon as we're done with the move and i have time to breathe i'll look into this. Would love to take some courses/classes on first aid and such

CPR..........time to breathe..........i see what you did there

Thanks for the reminder, it's time for me to take another refresher class it's been almost a year! 

https://www.redcross.org/local/new-jersey/take-a-class/cpr

https://www.ready.gov/community-emergency-response-team

5 minutes ago, Displaced Texan said:

https://www.ready.gov/community-emergency-response-team

This actually seems really cool. Far less demanding than being on a volunteer squad as far as time commitment and such goes. Plus, im not sure how i'd handle something like having to deliver a baby. Seen it twice, and jesus is it gross.

This actually seems really cool. Far less demanding than being on a volunteer squad as far as time commitment and such goes. Plus, im not sure how i'd handle something like having to deliver a baby. Seen it twice, and jesus is it gross.

We used to have the Civil Defense which covered a lot more, but then the Federal Government decided to eliminate it and turn everything over to FEMA. Much easier to put dissidents in camps that way.


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Thought this was a good reminder for those of us that prefer the ocean.

https://www.itstactical.com/fitcom/swimming/dont-get-ripped-off-learn-to-identify-rip-currents-and-be-safe-in-the-ocean/

Summer is upon us... and already (oh, so heartbreakingly!) I just read about a young NJ boy who drowned in a lake. This is just far too common. And frequently, people in the vicinity of a drowning don't even realize a swimmer is in any distress. So, I'm refreshing this annual safety reminder from a couple years back on how to recognize the signs of drowning.

Other people added lots of great info to this thread, but if you just don't want to scroll back through the whole thread, I urge you to at least  re-read the original article, which I'm re-posting here: https://slate.com/technology/2013/06/rescuing-drowning-children-how-to-know-when-someone-is-in-trouble-in-the-water.html

Learn the signs of drowning and keep your eyes wide open this summer... at the shore, lakes and pools. 

 

That time of year again folks. Pools are opening, people are outdoors. Pay attention.

https://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/

A very interesting read.  The things we don't know...thanks for sharing that link.  Everyone should read it.

Thanks for re-posting.  I was a lifeguard back in the late 70's at the condo complex where we lived.  I'm 16/17, skinny as hell and hated dealing with people, but it was a great job.  One crowded Saturday a mother was standing next to her infant on the pool steps across from my stand.  She was busy flirting with some guy when her son stepped off the steps and started flailing.  I come jumping across the pool, pick him out of the water and hand him to her - she starts yelling at me that I splashed her.  Before I could respond her son puked water all over her and started crying.  The rest of the pool went silent and I told her it would probably be best if she left.  I never saw her the rest of the summer.

NEVER let your kids out of sight.

 

Yes, THANK YOU for refreshing the thread, @High Exposure! 

Does comrade murphy require mask to be worn when swimming. 

On 5/14/2021 at 9:27 PM, silverado427 said:

Does comrade murphy require mask to be worn when swimming. 

Not while, but immediately before and after.

Reading another post in a different NJGF forum reminded me that there have ALREADY been several drownings in NJ this season. How tragic... it seems it's already shaping up to be a bad one. So, I'm resurrecting this thread - please read the article in the original post. Everyone should be familiar with what the signs of drowning actually look like & be vigilant, particularly when young children are involved. Whether the swimmer is in the ocean, a lake, or a pool, drowning is a huge risk factor during this warm weather as more people get into the water. Who knows?... perhaps being more familiar with how drowning actually appears might just save a life!

Can we just have some common sense pool laws??!