Dry Drowning, Parents Need to Know the Three Warning Signs

The tragic event of the death of a 10 year old South Carolina boy has brought to light the phenomenon called ‘dry drowning’. Never heard of dry drowning? You are not alone, the majority of us have never heard of it until recently. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 3,600 people drowned in 2005 and 10 to 15 percent of those drowning were classified as dry drowning.

Parents need to know the three warning signs of dry drowning, since dry drowning occurs most often in children and the small amount of water necessary to claim another victim to dry drowning can be inhaled during a child’s bath time.

The three important signs parents need to look for after their child has been in water are: Difficulty in breathing, extreme tiredness and behavior changes. All three of the signs of dry drowning are due to a reduced flow of oxygen to the brain.

According to Dr. Daniel Rauch, a pediatrician from New York University Langone Medical Center, these three important signs can easily be overlooked or misinterpreted.

Dr. Daniel Rauch continued to say in his interview with TODAY’S Meredith Vieira, that for reasons not completely understood, a small amount of inhaled water can have a delayed reaction in some people.

The young dry drowning victim in South Carolina had been swimming in a pool and walked home with his mother after the swim. At some point during the swim, the young boy inhaled a small amount of water in his lungs, yet he was still able to talk and walk, showing no signs of respiratory distress.

The young boy did show two of the three signs indicating dry drowning, his mother however, being unaware of dry drowning or it’s warning signs, attributed the signs to something else.

The young boy soiled himself in the pool, that was a behavioral change for the 10 year old. After the soiling incident, the young boy, his sister and mother walked home from the pool. The mother says she bathed her son and he said he was sleepy, he goes to bed, never to awake again. A victim of dry drowning.

After bathing or swimming, be alert to your child’s behavior, the process of dry drowning takes awhile to occur. When a small amount of water has been inhaled, the brain does not get enough oxygen, and the child (or possibly an adult) will begin to do things differently, breathing will change, behavior will change or they will be excessively tired.

If the dry drowning warning signs are caught early enough, the child can be treated and saved. A breathing tube is inserted and pressurized oxygen sent to the lungs and the lungs will heal.

The three warning signs of dry drowning parents need to know: Difficulty in breathing, extreme tiredness and behavioral changes.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24982210/