- Feb 5, 2002
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...someone is in trouble, and how to respond
A swimmer doesn’t splash and wave for help. Here’s how to know when someone is in trouble, and how to respond.
The captain jumped from the deck, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim and headed straight for a couple who were swimming between their anchored sportfish 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 a sandbar.
“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 toward him.
“Move!” he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not 10 feet away, their 9-year-old daughter was drowning. Once the girl was safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears and screamed, “Daddy!”
How did this captain know —from 50 feet away—what the father couldn’t recognize from just 10? 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, assumed he knew what drowning looks like because he watched television.
Continued below.
Can You Tell When a Person is Drowning?
A swimmer doesn’t splash and wave for help. Here’s how to know when someone is in trouble, and how to respond.
The captain jumped from the deck, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim and headed straight for a couple who were swimming between their anchored sportfish 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 a sandbar.
“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 toward him.
“Move!” he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not 10 feet away, their 9-year-old daughter was drowning. Once the girl was safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears and screamed, “Daddy!”
How did this captain know —from 50 feet away—what the father couldn’t recognize from just 10? 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, assumed he knew what drowning looks like because he watched television.
Continued below.
Can You Tell When a Person is Drowning?
