If you are under water long enough, your lungs fill with water and oxygen cannot get into your blood. A lack of blood oxygen can cause brain damage and death. Water in the lungs, especially contaminated water, can damage the lungs.
People can drown in as little as an inch or two of water. Babies can drown in a sink or bathtub. Most preschooler drownings occur in swimming pools. People who have seizure disorders are also at risk in the water. Drowning can happen quickly and silently.
Drowning precautions should include
- Fences around pools
- Supervising children near any body of water, including tubs
- Not swimming or boating when under the influence of alcohol or sedatives
- Wearing life jackets when boating
- Learning CPR
- Near Drowning(Merck & Co., Inc.) - http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec24/ch294/ch294a.html?qt=drown&alt=sh
- Water Safety Facts(Emergency Nurses Association) - Links to PDF - http://www.ena.org/ipinstitute/fact/ENAIPFactSheet-WaterSafety.pdf
- Epilepsy Raises Drowning Risk(08/18/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_68269.html
- CPR(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/emergencies/cpr.html
- Beach and Surf Safety(American College of Emergency Physicians) - http://www3.acep.org/patients.aspx?id=26164
- Drowning Prevention(Consumer Product Safety Commission) - http://www.cpsc.gov/nsn/drowning.html
- Pool and Spa Safety Publications(Consumer Product Safety Commission) - http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/chdrown.html
- Water Safety Campaign(Safe Kids Worldwide) - http://www.usa.safekids.org/water/index.html
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Drowning
(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Drowning%22
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Drowning in people with epilepsy: how great is the risk? - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18711111&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Histological findings and immunohistochemical surfactant protein A (SP-A) expression in... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18581277&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Hemolytic staining of the intima of the aortic root in... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18520478&tool=MedlinePlus
- Drowning -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=drowning[majr]+OR+near-drowning[majr]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+NOT+(editorial[pt]+OR+letter[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- Consumer Product Safety Commission - http://www.cpsc.gov/
- National Center for Injury Prevention and Control(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/
- Water-Related Injuries(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/drown.htm
- Child Safety: Prevent Drowning(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/child-safety/CC00045/METHOD=print
- Household Safety: Preventing Drowning(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/home/safety_drowning.html
- How to Plan for the Unexpected: Preventing Child Drownings(Consumer Product Safety Commission) - Links to PDF - http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PUBS/359.pdf
- Swimming(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/kid/watch/out/water.html
- CPR - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/cpr.html
- Water Safety (Recreational) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/watersafetyrecreational.html
- Injuries and Wounds - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/injuriesandwounds.html