Drowning can occur during sea and river disasters, when an aircraft falls into the water, or during natural disasters. But in everyday life, most of all, it happens when swimming in unfamiliar bodies of water, jumping into the water, riding on thin ice or fishing on it. Unintentional drowning can occur even in a puddle, in shallow water, in a bathtub. In these cases, our help, as a rule, is especially needed.

Death from drowning due to lack of oxygen in the body usually occurs within 2-3 minutes, provided that the victim had a healthy heart. However, there are cases of instant cardiac arrest; this, as a rule, occurs under the influence of a sudden action of cold during a rapid jump into the water or getting into the upper Airways a small amount of water, and first of all, the heart reacts to these factors. When drowning, a large amount of water also plays a role, penetrating from the lungs into the blood and significantly disrupting chemical equilibrium organism.

Low water temperature under certain conditions of the body (tendency to antispasms, allergy to cold, etc.) causes spasm of the vessels of the skin and lungs, prolonged contraction of the respiratory muscles, which leads to acute respiratory and cardiac disorders.

But there are also many accidents in sun-warmed water. Risk factors are a high flow rate, the presence of whirlpools, key sources that dramatically change the water temperature in a limited area, storms, the possibility of collision with floating equipment, etc. A significant reduction in the risk of drowning, not only in normal, but also in extreme conditions, is facilitated by education in a person volitional qualities and hardening of the body. But the main thing is to try not to lose your composure in the water.

Often people drown not only because of the loss of self-control, but also because of the onset of a fainting state, that is, loss of consciousness. Fainting can occur, for example, due to the fact that on a hot day a person overheated under the sun rapidly plunges into water, as a result of which either a spasm of the brain occurs, or an outflow of blood from the brain, or both. Fainting can also occur due to the overflow of the stomach with abundant and dense food, when, in the process of digestion, blood flows from the central nervous system into the gastrointestinal tract. The cause of fainting can also be fear during an accidental fall into the water.

There are two types of drowning: true and "dry" - caused by a sudden stop of breathing and heart.

When drowning, two phases of death are distinguished: clinical and biological. Drowned, even when quickly removed from the water, in appearance resembles a dead one. However, he should be considered apparently dead, in a phase of clinical death, and therefore immediate measures must be taken to revive him.

First aid for a drowned man

The nature of the provision of emergency care to the victim depends on the severity of his condition. If a person is conscious, he needs to be reassured, take off his wet clothes, wipe his skin dry, change clothes; if consciousness is absent, but the pulse and breathing are preserved, the victim should be allowed to inhale ammonia (in extreme cases, cologne or other pungent-smelling liquid, up to gasoline). Then release from tight clothing, especially the neck and chest. To activate breathing, you can use the rhythmic twitching of the tongue.

Here's something else to keep in mind. Pulling a drowning man ashore, look at the color of his face. If it is white, and there is foam on the lips and nose, then his lungs are full of water. Of course, it must be removed as soon as possible. To do this, put your patient on a bent leg so that his head and torso are down, and your hip is pressing under his lower ribs. After that, press on the back until all the water has flowed out. And then you can already do artificial respiration, and an indirect heart massage.

If the face is bluish, then it is necessary first of all to clean the oral cavity of mucus and other dirt that has got there with a handkerchief or a clean cloth wound around a finger. Sometimes a sharp short blow to the back is enough.

At the end of the procedure (and you should try to do it in 15-20 seconds), you can start resuscitation. Place a bundle of clothes or something like that under the victim's shoulder blades so that the head is thrown back as far as possible: this is the only way to open the airways. The tongue is best pulled out by hand. If the jaws are brought together, and the mouth cannot be reached, artificial respiration is done according to the mouth-to-nose method. Perform chest compressions at the same time. In the meantime, you are pumping out a drowned man, let someone call an ambulance. It makes sense to pump out 30-40 minutes.

When saving a drowning person, there is no time to waste, therefore, in some cases, it is possible not to pump out the water. After cleaning the mouth (preliminary measure), it is necessary to immediately begin to carry out artificial respiration. At the same time, every second is precious!

In any condition of the victim, measures are taken to warm the body by rubbing, massaging the upper and lower extremities. All this is desirable to do together.

As soon as the victim resumed breathing, he should be given hot tea to drink, wrapped in a blanket and taken to a medical facility.

➨ In order to avoid accidents, you should follow the rules of behavior on the water: you can not leave children unattended, swim from boats, rafts, swim outside the designated swimming areas, swim before 1.5-2 hours after eating, in a state of intoxication and in state of physical and mental fatigue.

➨ It is dangerous to swim after a strong overheating in the sun, especially for elderly people with diseases of the cardiovascular system. It is extremely dangerous to jump into the water in an unfamiliar place, especially head down.

➨ It is recommended to swim in the evening or in the morning when the sun is not hot. Warming up in the sun before swimming, you are at great risk. With a sharp temperature drop, a reflex contraction of the muscles can occur with a complete cessation of breathing.

➨ Stay in the water is not recommended for more than 10-15 minutes. Do not think that if the air temperature approaches 35 ° C, then you can swim all the time: a long stay in the water causes hypothermia of the body and, as a result, convulsions, which can lead to irreparable trouble.

➨ Do not make stupid jokes while bathing. Favorite joke - dive and pull the legs - a reliable way to send a person to the next world, because it is almost impossible to resist in such a situation, and the respiratory reflex is suppressed. The same applies to immersing the head in water and holding it there until blisters appear. Bubbles may be the last...

It is forbidden to swim or climb on the navigational signs of the navigable situation (buoys, buoys).

Content

Resting by a pond is not always pleasant. Incorrect behavior in the water or emergencies may lead to drowning. Young children are especially susceptible to this risk, but even adults who know how to swim well can become victims of strong currents, cramps, whirlpools. The sooner the victim is removed from the water, and he will be given first aid for drowning (removal of fluid from the respiratory tract), the higher the chance to save a person's life.

What is drowning

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines drowning as a respiratory disorder caused by immersion or prolonged exposure to water. As a result, respiratory failure, asphyxia may occur. If first aid to a drowning person was not provided on time, death occurs. How long can a person go without air? The brain is able to function for only 5-6 minutes during hypoxia, so you need to act very quickly, without waiting for the ambulance.

There are several reasons for this situation, but not all of them are random. Sometimes the wrong behavior of a person on the surface of the water leads to undesirable consequences. Key factors include:

• injuries from diving in shallow water, in unexplored places;
• alcohol intoxication;
• emergencies (convulsions, heart attack, diabetic or hypoglycemic coma, stroke);
• inability to swim;
• neglect of the child (when children drown);
• falling into whirlpools, storm.

Signs of drowning

The symptoms of drowning are easy to spot. The victim begins to flounder, or swallows air like a fish. Often a person spends all his energy to keep his head above water and breathe, so he cannot scream for help. Spasm of the vocal cords may also occur. A drowning man is seized by panic, he is lost, which reduces his chances of self-rescue. When the victim has already been pulled out of the water, the fact that he was drowning can be determined by the following symptoms:

• bloating;
• chest pain;
• blue or bluish tint of the skin;
• cough;
• shortness of breath or shortness of breath;
• vomiting.

Types of drowning

There are several types of drowning, each of which is characterized by its own characteristics. These include:

1. "Dry" (asphyxic) drowning. A person dives under water and loses orientation. Often there is a spasm of the larynx, water fills the stomach. The upper airways are blocked, and the drowning person begins to suffocate. Asphyxia sets in.
2. "Wet" (true). Plunging into the water, a person does not lose the respiratory instinct. The lungs and bronchi are filled with fluid, foam may be released from the mouth, cyanosis of the skin is manifested.
3. Fainting (syncope). Another name is pale drowning. The skin acquires a characteristic white, white-gray, bluish color. Death occurs as a result of a reflex cessation of the work of the lungs and heart. Often this happens due to a temperature difference (when a drowning person plunges into ice water), hitting the surface. There is a faint, loss of consciousness, arrhythmia, epilepsy, heart attack, clinical death.

Rescue of a drowning man

Anyone can notice the victim, but it is important to provide first aid in a short time, because someone's life depends on it. Being on the shore, the first thing to do is to call the rescuer for help. The specialist knows exactly what to do. If he is not around, you can try to pull the person out yourself, but you need to remember the danger. The drowning man is in stressful condition, his coordination is impaired, so he can involuntarily cling to the rescuer, preventing him from grabbing himself. There is a high probability of drowning together (with improper behavior in the water).

First aid for drowning

When an accident occurs, you need to act quickly. If there was no professional rescuer or medical worker nearby, then first aid for drowning should be provided by others. The following steps should be followed:

1. Wrap your finger with a soft cloth, clean the rescued person's mouth with it.
2. If there is fluid in the lungs, you need to put a person on his knee with his stomach down, lower his head, make several blows between the shoulder blades.
3. If necessary, make artificial respiration, heart massage. It is very important not to press too hard on the chest, so as not to break the ribs.
4. When a person wakes up, you should free him from wet clothes, wrap him in a towel, let him warm up.

The difference between sea and fresh water when drowning

An accident can occur in various water sources (sea, river, pool), but drowning in fresh water is different from immersion in a salty environment. What is the difference? Inhalation of sea fluid is not as dangerous and has a more favorable prognosis. The high concentration of salt prevents water from entering the lung tissue. However, the blood thickens, putting pressure on the circulatory system. Within 8-10 minutes, a complete cardiac arrest occurs, but during this time it is possible to resuscitate a drowning person.

As for drowning in fresh water, the process is more complicated. When fluid enters the lung cells, they swell and some of the cells burst. Fresh water can be absorbed into the blood, making it more liquid. Capillaries rupture, which disrupts cardiac activity. There is ventricular fibrillation, cardiac arrest. This whole process takes a few minutes, so death in fresh water occurs much faster.

First aid on the water

A specially trained person should be involved in rescuing a drowning person. However, it is not always nearby, or several people can drown in the water. Any vacationer who knows how to swim well can provide first aid. To save someone's life, you should use the following algorithm:

1. It is necessary to gradually approach the victim from behind, dive and cover the solar plexus, taking the drowning person by the right hand.
2. Swim to the shore on your back, row with your right hand.
3. It is important to ensure that the head of the victim is above the water and that he does not swallow the liquid.
4. On the shore, you should put a person on his stomach, provide first aid.

First aid rules

The desire to help a drowning person is not always beneficial. Misbehavior by an outsider often only exacerbates the problem. For this reason, first aid for drowning must be competent. What is the mechanism of PMP:

1. After the person has been pulled out of the water and covered with a blanket, symptoms of hypothermia (hypothermia) should be checked.
2. Call an ambulance.
3. Avoid deforming the spine or neck, do not cause injury.
4. Fix the cervical region by placing a folded towel.
5. If the victim is not breathing, start artificial respiration, heart massage

With true drowning

In about 70 percent of cases, water enters directly into the lungs, resulting in true or "wet" drowning. This can happen to a child, or to a person who cannot swim. First aid for drowning includes the following steps:

• palpation of the pulse, examination of the pupils;
• warming the victim;
• maintaining blood circulation (raising legs, tilting the torso);
• ventilation of the lungs with breathing apparatus;
• if the person is not breathing, artificial respiration should be given.

With asphyxia drowning

Dry drowning is somewhat atypical. The water never reaches the lungs, but instead the vocal cords spasm. Death can occur due to hypoxia. How to provide first aid to a person in this case:

• perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation immediately;
• call an ambulance;
• when the victim came to his senses, warm him.

Artificial respiration and cardiac massage

In most cases, drowning stops a person from breathing. To bring him back to life, you should immediately begin active steps: perform a heart massage, perform artificial respiration. You need to follow a clear sequence of actions. How to do mouth-to-mouth breathing:

1. It is necessary to part the lips of the victim, remove mucus, algae with a finger wrapped in a cloth. Allow liquid to drain from the mouth.
2. Grab your cheeks so that your mouth does not close, tilt your head back, raise your chin.
3. Pinch the nose of the rescued, inhale the air directly into his mouth. The process takes a fraction of a second. Number of repetitions: 12 times per minute.
4. Check the pulse in the neck.
5. After a while, the chest will rise (the lungs will begin to function).

Mouth-to-mouth breathing is often accompanied by heart massage. This procedure must be done very carefully so as not to damage the fins. How to proceed:

1. Position the patient on flat surface(floor, sand, earth).
2. Put one hand on the chest, cover with the other hand at an angle of about 90 degrees.
3. Rhythmically apply pressure to the body (approximately one pressure per second).
4. To start the baby's heart, press on the chest with 2 fingers (due to the baby's small height and weight).
5. If there are two rescuers, artificial respiration and cardiac massage are performed simultaneously. If there is only one rescuer, then every 30 seconds you need to alternate these two processes.

Actions after first aid

Even if a person comes to his senses, this does not mean that he does not need medical attention. You should stay with the victim, call an ambulance or seek medical help. It is worth knowing that when drowning in fresh water, death can occur even after a few hours (secondary drowning), so you should keep the situation under control. With a long stay without consciousness and oxygen, the following problems may occur:

• brain disorders, internal organs;
• neuralgia;
• pneumonia;
• chemical imbalance in the body;
• permanent vegetative state.

To avoid complications, you should take care of your health as soon as possible. The rescued from drowning should observe the following precautions:

• learn to swim;
• avoid swimming while intoxicated;
• do not go into too cold water;

Discuss

Rules for rescuing and providing emergency first aid to a drowning person - an algorithm for resuscitation

Today I want to continue the theme of summer holidays, but with a focus on water.

Of course, I would like the essence of the article to be as easy as its beginning, but, unfortunately, this will not work out here. Because the sun is getting hotter. Water in the sea and other bodies of water is warming up. The number of picnics is increasing. The degree in the body of many people rises, and sanity often fades into the background. The result is drowning. Moreover, as statistics and news reports show, people, despite all the warnings and other preventive measures, still continue to drown. The reason in most cases is heat, alcohol, water - a cramp, loss of consciousness ...

Our mind can replace the three dots of the previous paragraph with “drowned man”, but I want to replace them with “saved person”, who next time will be more conscious about his own safety on the water.

Let's look, dear readers, how we can help in a situation where a person begins to drown and needs the help of another person. Moreover, after pulling a person out of the water, it is also necessary to provide him with first aid. So…

Help a drowning man. What to do?

If you saw a drowning person, no matter how trite it sounds, you must:

1. Pull a person out of the water;
2. Call an ambulance;
3. Provide him with first aid.

These 3 points, if done correctly and quickly, are actually the key to a successful conclusion to the situation. Delays are not allowed!

1. Pulling a drowning person out of the water

A drowning person in most cases panics, does not hear words, and does not understand what is happening. He grabs for everything that is possible and this becomes dangerous for the person who wants to save him.

If a person is conscious

To pull a person out of the water, if he is conscious, throw him a floating object - an inflatable ball, a board, a rope, etc., so that he can grab onto it and calm down. Thus, you can safely pull it out.

If the person is unconscious or weak:

1. While still on the shore, get as close as possible to the drowning person. Be sure to take off your shoes, excess clothing (or at least heavy ones), turn out your pockets. Jump into the water and approach the drowning man.

2. If a person has already gone under water, dive after him and try to see him or feel him.

3. When you find a person, turn him over on his back. If a drowning person starts grabbing you, quickly get rid of his grip:

- if a drowning person grabbed you by the neck or torso, then grab him by the lower back with one hand, and push his head away with the other hand, resting on his chin;
- if you grabbed a hand, then twist it and pull it out of the hands of a drowning man.

If such methods do not help to get rid of the grip, then take air into your lungs and dive, the drowning person will change the grip, and you will be able to free yourself from it at this time.

Try to act calmly and do not show cruelty to a drowning person.

4. Transport the drowning person to the shore. There are several methods for this:

- Being behind, clasp your chin with your palms on both sides and row towards the shore with your feet;
- stick your left hand under the arm of the left hand of the drowning person, at the same time, grab his wrist with your left hand as well right hand, row with your feet and with one hand;
- take the victim by the hair with your hand and put his head on your forearm, row with your feet and with one hand.

2. First aid to a drowning person (First aid)

When you pulled the victim ashore, urgently call an ambulance and immediately begin to provide him with first aid.

1. Get on one knee next to the injured person. Lay him on your knee, belly down, and open his mouth. At the same time, press with your hands on his back so that the water that he swallowed flows out of him. The victim may appear and - this is normal.

If the person is semi-conscious and is vomiting, do not let him lie on his back, otherwise he may choke on the vomit. If necessary, help remove vomit, mud, or other substances that interfere with normal breathing from his mouth.

2. Lay the victim on their back and remove any excess clothing. Put something under his head so that it is a little elevated. To do this, you can use his own clothes, twisted into a roller or your knees.

3. If a person does not breathe for 1-2 minutes, it can be fatal.

Signs of cardiac arrest are: lack of pulse, breathing, dilated pupils.

If these signs are present, immediately begin to take resuscitation measures - do "mouth to mouth" and.

Draw air into your lungs, pinch the victim's nose, bring your mouth close to the victim's mouth and exhale. It is necessary to do 1 exhalation in 4 seconds (15 exhalations per minute).

Place your palms on top of each other on the victim's chest between his nipples. In the pauses between exhalations (during artificial respiration), do 4 rhythmic pressures. Press on the chest quite hard - so that the sternum moves down by about 4-5 cm, but no more, so as not to aggravate the situation and additionally harm the person.

If the affected person is elderly, then the pressure should be gentle. If the injured child, then press not with the palm of your hand, but with your fingers.

Give artificial respiration and chest compressions until the person is awake. Don't give up and don't give up. There were cases when a person came to his senses even after an hour of such measures.

It is most convenient to resuscitate together, so that one would do artificial respiration, and the second.

4. After breathing is restored, before the ambulance arrives, lay the person on their side so that they lie stably, cover and warm them.

If an ambulance cannot arrive, but there is a car, follow all the above points in the car while driving to the nearest medical facility.

May the Lord keep us all, dear readers, from such situations.

Help a drowning man - video

In places where water bodies exist, there is always a risk of drowning. In winter, fishermen may not calculate the thickness of the ice and end up in ice captivity. And in the warm season, the number of victims increases several times. Any person who is a good swimmer should know the rules for rescuing a drowning person on the water. After all, having the necessary information, you can not only help a person, but also save yourself from an accident.

You have to be able to calculate your strength, act very quickly. After all, a person's life is in your hands, and any delay is fraught with grave consequences. In the first minutes, resuscitating a drowning person is much easier. After all, water has not yet had time to get into the alveoli of the lungs.

Causes of tragic cases

While on vacation, people relax, lose the ability to think rationally and often overestimate their strength. Those who can swim try to swim far into the sea, showing their skills. Having warmed up in the sun, beachgoers go to cool off in cold water. Not everyone knows that a sudden change in temperature can cause a leg or arm to cramp. Parents were distracted and did not watch the child. Children do not yet have a sense of fear and can go deep without understanding the consequences.

In a separate group include extreme people who are chasing adrenaline, doing everything necessary for this. They swim in a storm, jump from a cliff into the water, go on a rubber boat far out to sea. People who are under the influence of alcohol often become victims of deep water. They, as the saying goes, are knee-deep in the sea.

The first signs of a drowning person

Before you jump into the water to save a drowning person, you need to make sure that the person is really drowning. How can you recognize it from the shore?

1. The position of the drowning body is usually vertical.
2. His hands are raised up, and he seems to be trying to grab something with them. But in fact, he just splashes his hands on the water.
3. The head then rises above the water, then disappears.
4. At first, a person can scream, call for help, but if there is no strength left, he is silent. Children almost always do not scream, but simply open their mouths wide in horror, trying to grab air.
5. If a person does not answer the question: “Are you all right?”, then this is a sign of trouble that has happened to him.

The first steps of the lifeguard

Before you throw to the rescue of a drowning man, you need to think about the situation. Be sure to have someone call the water rescue and ambulance services. Remove clothing as quickly as possible. If this is not possible, then you need to at least turn the pockets out. Be sure to take off your shoes. After all, water is quickly collected, which interferes with movements and pulls strongly to the bottom.

Throwing yourself into the water to save a drowning person makes sense if the rescuer can swim well. Health allows you to withstand strong loads, since a drowning person can instinctively grab, hit, pull to the bottom, drown his rescuer. You need to be prepared for such a turn of events and know how to get out of the strong hands of a desperate person.

You also need to check where it is better to start rescuing a drowning person. It is advisable to choose the closest point on the coast. It is better to run more along the shore than to swim further on the water. Also, you can not jump into the water in an unfamiliar place, as there may be pitfalls. Need to get in quickly.

When saving a person, take some kind of watercraft with you: an inflatable circle, a ball, a board. Any object that a drowning person can grab onto will come in handy. Otherwise, he will have to hold on only to you and it will be a problem to deliver him to the shore.

If you have to save a fisherman who has fallen under the ice, then you can’t approach him while standing, you need to advance while lying on the ice. You can stretch him a long stick, a net, a ladder, a solid fishing rod. You can create a chain of people lying on the ice and holding each other. That will be the safest.

What is the right way to help?

To quickly swim to a drowning person, it is better to use the crawl swimming style. You should always swim up to the victim from behind. Since a person experiencing a panic state is able to hit you, start drowning, block your movements and pose a threat. This must be remembered and guarded against.

If you can’t swim up to him from behind, then you need to dive under the person, grab him tightly under the knee of the leg. With your free hand, sharply push the other knee forward and, thus, turn the victim back to you.

When the drowning man is already with his back to you, you need to grab his right armpit with your right hand and firmly fix it, float to the surface of the water. You need to move to the shore on your back, supporting the person's head above the water.

How to protect yourself?

Actions when rescuing a drowning person are associated with great risk. The drowning person is frightened, in a state of shock, and may grab his rescuer tightly with his arms. This threatens the death of a person who wants to help. You need to be able to act correctly in such situations and, without losing your mind, use force to free yourself from the deadly embrace.

Getting rid of the grip, you need to get out, press on your chin, turn your hands in the opposite direction, but do not let it go. You need to try to get out sharply, while explaining and reassuring the person with words.

How to tow a drowning person to shore?

Ways to save drowning people can be different, depending on the situation and on how much the person resists and what condition he is in. As a rule, a person is towed lying on his back or on his side. You can hold him by the head, armpits, grabbing the hand in the shoulder area, by the hair or collar, if he is in clothes.

When delivering a person to the shore, you need to carefully monitor that his head is always above the surface of the water so that it does not get into his respiratory tract. When the rescuer swims sideways, he can navigate the terrain and choose the shortest path to rescue.

If the rescuer had the opportunity to take life-saving equipment from the shore, such as a circle or a ball, located on the beach, then the drowning person should be forced to wrap his arms around them. Of course, if the person is still conscious.

Types of drowning

Actions when rescuing a drowning person depend on the type of drowning. There are three types of them.

1. White asphyxia, in another way this species is also called imaginary drowning. From the fear of water entering the lungs, a person reflexively spasms, breathing stops and the heart stops. Such a drowned person can be reanimated after 20 minutes.
2. Blue asphyxia occurs when water has entered the alveoli of the lungs. It is easy to understand this by the appearance of a person. The face, ears, lips, fingers acquire a purple skin tone. This needs to be rescued urgently, the rescuer has only 5 minutes left.
3. The next type of drowning occurs when there is an inhibition of nervous processes. This happens under the influence of alcohol or from hypothermia of the body. The rescue is given from 5 to 10 minutes.

First aid

When rescuing a drowning person, you must first check for breathing and heartbeat. If vital signs are present, then you need to remove wet clothes from him, put him so that his head is down or on his side. Cover with a warm blanket. If a person is able to drink, then you can give him a warm drink.

When a person is in unconscious, then you need to get on one knee, put a person with his stomach on the other knee, head down. Try to clean his mouth from sand, straighten his tongue forward so that it does not sink. Water that has entered the body should be poured out. Only then should resuscitation begin. According to the rules for rescuing a drowning person, you need to do artificial respiration and chest compressions.

Resuscitation measures

For artificial respiration, a person is placed on a hard surface, a roller is placed under the neck. In order for a person to breathe, his lungs must fill with air. To do this, the rescuer takes a deep breath, leans over the mouth of the drowned person and exhales into his airways. If the chest rises, it means that air has entered his lungs. This should be done every 1-2 seconds. There should be at least 30 breaths per minute.

During breaks, heart massage is done. Better when it is produced by a second person. The palms of two hands are placed on the chest of a person in the region of the heart, one on top of the other. Rhythmically and strongly pressing on the sternum. You need to do 15 clicks in 10 seconds. Continue resuscitation until the person recovers. This can take quite a long time. But by no means should you stop. According to statistics, most of the rescued people did not survive just because they stopped resuscitation.

Be sure to call an ambulance, because saving a drowning person on the water is a long process.

The drowning statistics are alarming - according to various estimates, from 3,000 to 10,000 people drown every year in Russia, this is the population of a small town. most common cause The number of deaths on the water, experts call alcohol intoxication, it accounts for about 40% of all cases of drowning. The second most common reason is self-confidence, no matter how strange it sounds. People overestimate their capabilities and underestimate the risks associated with swimming in water bodies, and this sometimes leads to tragic consequences.

The Society for Water Rescue in order to avoid drowning calls for the following rules of conduct:

1. Do not enter the water while intoxicated;
2. Do not dive in an unfamiliar place;
3. Do not swim close to the vessels, do not stay on the course of the vessel, even if this vessel is a small boat, motor boat or pedalo;
4. Do not swim far on air mattresses, circles, toys, etc.;
5. Do not arrange dangerous games in the water associated with comic drowning, seizures, fear, dragging under water;
6. Children should be near the water, and even more so in the water, only accompanied by adults and under their vigilant control.

Compliance with these simple rules could prevent the lion's share of the tragedies associated with the death of a person on the water. Unfortunately, understanding the importance of this sometimes comes too late.

What to do if an accident occurs? You should immediately start providing first aid, because in this case a person's life directly depends on how fast and sure the rescuer's actions were.

How to properly pull the victim to the shore

The task of the rescuer is not only to save the drowning man, but also to save his life, and since everything needs to be done quickly and there is no time for reflection, you need to know the following clearly:

1. It is necessary to approach the victim from behind, to grab in such a way that he cannot cling to the rescuer (this happens reflexively, the drowning person is not able to control his actions). A classic among rescuers is the capture of the victim from behind by the hair, if their length allows. No matter how rude it may sound, nevertheless, this option is effective, as it allows you to move quite comfortably and quickly, keep the victim’s head above the water and protect yourself from the fact that, clinging with a stranglehold, he will pull the rescuer to the depth;
2. If, nevertheless, the drowning man clung to the rescuer and pulls him down, you should not fight back, but dive - in this case, the drowning man will instinctively open his hands.

Source: Ways to capture the victim in the water

Types of drowning

When the victim is pulled ashore, it is necessary to quickly assess what type of drowning was encountered, since the first aid algorithm will depend on this.

There are two main types of drowning:

1. Blue, or wet (sometimes also called true drowning) - when a large amount of water has entered the stomach and respiratory tract. The skin of the victim turns blue because the water, quickly entering the bloodstream, dilutes the blood, which in this state easily seeps through the walls of the vessels, giving the skin a bluish tint. Another sign of wet or blue drowning is that a large amount of pink foam is released from the mouth and nose of the victim, and breathing becomes bubbling;
2. Pale, or dry (also called asphyxic drowning) - when in the process of drowning the victim has a spasm of the glottis, and water does not penetrate into the respiratory tract. In this case, all pathological processes are associated with shock and ensuing suffocation. Pale drowning has a more favorable prognosis.

First aid algorithm

After the victim is pulled ashore, the upper respiratory tract must be quickly freed from foreign objects (mud, dentures, vomit).

Since there is a lot of fluid in the victim’s airway during wet or blue drowning, the rescuer should lay him on his knee with his stomach, face down to let the water drain, put two fingers in the victim’s mouth and press on the root of the tongue. This is done not only to induce vomiting, which will help free the airways and stomach from water that has not been absorbed, but also to help start the respiratory process.

If everything worked out, and the rescuer achieved the appearance of vomit (their hallmark is the presence of undigested pieces of food), this means that first aid arrived on time, was carried out correctly, and the person will live. Nevertheless, one must continue to help him remove water from the respiratory tract and stomach, without stopping pressing on the root of the tongue and causing the gag reflex again and again - until the process of vomiting no longer produces water. At this stage, there is a cough.

If several attempts in a row to induce vomiting were unsuccessful, if at least confused breathing or coughing did not appear, this means that there is no free fluid in the respiratory tract and stomach, it has been absorbed. In this case, you should immediately turn the victim on his back and proceed to resuscitation.

First aid for dry type drowning is different in that in this case, resuscitation should be started immediately after the release of the upper respiratory tract, skipping the stage of inducing vomiting. In this case, there are 5-6 minutes to try to start the respiratory process in the victim.

So, in a condensed form, the first aid algorithm for drowning is as follows:

1. Free the upper respiratory tract (mouth and nose) from foreign substances;
2. Throw the victim over the knee, let the water drain, induce vomiting and remove water from the stomach and respiratory tract as completely as possible;
3. If breathing has stopped, proceed to resuscitation (artificial heart massage and mouth-to-mouth or mouth-to-nose breathing).

When drowning is pale, or dry type, the second stage is skipped.

Actions after first aid

After it was possible to start independent breathing, the victim is laid on his side, covered with a towel or blanket to warm. It is imperative to call an ambulance. Until the arrival of a doctor, the victim must be constantly under control, in case of respiratory arrest, resuscitation should be resumed.

The rescuer must insist on medical assistance to the victim, even if he is able to move independently and refuses it. The fact is that the terrible consequences of drowning, such as cerebral or pulmonary edema, sudden respiratory arrest, etc., can occur in a few hours, and even a few days after the accident. The danger is considered past only when, 5 days after the incident, no serious problems health did not occur.