A baby or toddler can drown in only three inches of water. Danger spots are bathtubs, garden ponds, and home swimming pools, but children have been known to drown in nappy pails and other receptacles. The liquid doesn’t have to be water.
How can parents cope and protect their children from drowning? If you discover our child is in water or other liquid:
1. Check her breathing right away. If it’s stopped, remove any objects from the mouth and start resuscitation immediately, before getting help.
2. Don’t stop to get water out of the chest; she may vomit and choke on it. Drowning usually kills because throat spasms prevent breathing, not because the lungs are full of water.
3. Check her pulse by feeling for five seconds over elbow crease or chest. If there’s no pulse send for medical help immediately. Heart massage, combined with continued resuscitation can restart it, but if medical help arrive fast enough there is a better chance of success, she’ll still need medical attention as her air passages may swell up later and asphyxiate her.
4. Remove wet clothes and keep her warm. Don’t use any external heat sources, though.
5. When carrying her, keep her head lower than the rest of the body, to allow water to drain from her mouth.
Place her in the recovery position while you wait for help.
RECOVERY POSITION
This position prevents an unconscious (but breathing) casualty from chocking or inhaling vomit. Do not use it if you suspect a neck or back injury, as moving the casualty could damage the spinal cord. Check breathing first, make sure there is nothing in the mouth (like a sweet) and tilt head back to keep airway open. Then;
1. Straighten her legs, place the arm nearest to you at right angles to her body, with the elbow bent and the palm facing upwards.
2. Bring the other arm across chest and hold the back of the hand against her nearest cheek.
3. With your other hand, grasp the thigh farthest away from you and pull the knee up, keeping the foot flat on the ground.
4. Keeping her hand against her cheek, roll the body towards you and onto one side by pulling the thigh.
5. Keep the head tilted back by adjusting the hand under cheek and prevent her rolling forwards by adjusting upper leg so hip and knee are bent at a right angle.
RESUSCITATION BRIEF…
1. Use a finger to clear the mouth first but be careful not to touch the back of the throat.
2. Tilt her head back slightly.
3. Take a deep breath and make a tight seal with your mouth around her mouth and nose. Blow out gently into her lungs. For an older child (3 and over), pinch her nose shut with your finger and thumb, and seal your mouth around her mouth.
4. Remove your mouth and watch her chest fall. Repeat one breath every two to three seconds.
5. Keep going with a good, steady rhythm until help arrives or she breathes on her own. Recovery can take time.
6. If the pulse stops, cardiac massage will be needed to restart the heart. However, an ambulance crew will have a better chance of success at performing this, unless you have received proper first aid training.
HOW TO AVOID DROWNING INCIDENT
Supervise all play with or near water constantly. Teach your child the dangers of water early. Never leave your child alone in the bath especially not with another child even if you are using a child support. Non-slip bath mats will help prevent her slipping while you reach for something. Cover a garden pond securely and completely with very sturdy wooden trellis or chicken wire or surround it with an impenetrable fence. Never rely on armbands or other swimming aids. Don’t get complacent once your child can swim. The ability to swim in a pool doesn’t mean she can cope with the sea or river.