Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning (A Must Read)

[Schneed10]

I was a lifeguard in the summers of my college days, and this rings a bell from all those training sessions we had. I only had to jump in the pool one time in my three summers of lifeguarding, but I remember it was for a four year old boy who wasn't quite ready to use the diving board. He started swimming to the side just fine, but then his feet dropped from the surface and he went vertical. He was stationary, with his hands moving in a very fast doggie paddle motion. I was watching him closely thinking he would get himself going again, but then he looked up at me with a very panicked look in his eye, and that's when I went in.

It was very much like the article described. He was completely quiet, and to anyone on the surface of the water, he probably looked like he was just treading. But from the chair you could see how fast he was moving his limbs under water.

Pulled him out and he was fine, but ran over crying to his mom. Very good description from this article, in fact I just sent it to my buddies who run that pool now. I'm sure they'll share it with their lifeguards. Thanks for sharing FD.