Never heard the term, you say? It’s pretty common among EMS personnel, lifeguards and child activists when they talk about the small, lifeless bodies they see every summer lying by swimming pools or on beaches. That’s why so many dread the season. And so many work hard to make parents and caregivers understand the awful truth: A child can drown in 20 seconds or less.
How is that possible? The physiology is simple. People who are drowning hold their breath as long as they can. Then, they automatically breathe in. Water surges into the lungs and stomach, diluting the blood. The blood imbalance causes the heart to stop. The entire process takes 12 to 20 seconds from start to finish. First, there’s panic and a struggle to return to the surface followed by a period of calmness when the body lies limp in the water. Then, water is swallowed. There’s a terminal gasp. The victim falls unconscious and dies.
It’s a scenario that Attorney Jim Adler, a former lifeguard and water safety instructor, dreads. Adler, a member of the Joint City County Commission On Children in Houston and Safe Kids Coalitions in Houston and San Antonio is replacing some of his regularly scheduled TV commercials in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio this summer with a public service announcement about drowning to make sure that parents know the “cold, hard truth” to save their little ones from one of the quickest killers around.
