Water Safety
This past April marks the 20th anniversary of a tragic event that occurred at a marina where I was working at the time. A seven year old boy wandered away from his mother and sister, while they were carrying items from the boat to their car, and somehow fell into the water and drowned. The boy could not swim; he had been wearing a PFD while onboard the boat, but had removed that PFD upon going ashore. Nobody saw or heard him enter the water.
The marina had floating docks which were only a foot or so above the water, so he probably didn’t make much noise when he fell in. No one knows for sure, but It’s surmised that he had dropped a toy that he had been carrying into the water, and was trying to retrieve it, when he accidentally fell in; the toy was found floating near one of the nearby walkways shortly after the boy was reported missing. His body was found submerged a short time later near where the toy was found.
There were several people in the general area who were preoccupied with a variety of boat-related activities, including the boy’s dad and myself. Why didn’t anyone hear or see him, or hear him call out for help? The probable answer to that haunting question can be found in an recent article by Mario Vittone.
The Instinctive Drowning Response, so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect it to. When someone is drowning there is very little splashing, and no waving or yelling or calling for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic drowning can be, consider this: It is the number two cause of accidental death in children age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents). Of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult.
You can read Vittone's article here.
Kids can wander off before you realize that they are gone. For that reason, it’s best to keep them in a suitable PFD at all times when near the water.
/fl