Rescue of drowning people on the water. How to provide first aid to a drowning man: step by step instructions

How long does a person live if he loses the ability to breathe? Brain cells remain viable under hypoxic conditions for no more than 5-6 minutes. Although drowning in cold water, this time may increase. In any case, assistance to the victim should be provided even before the arrival of the medical team. In this situation, the matter is decided by minutes. This is why it is so important to know how to help.

Not all people, however, are ready to answer the question, let alone show in practice how to act correctly in case of drowning. And this is very sad. For some reason, many believe that only employees of specialized services should have such skills, while an ordinary person far from medicine does not need to know this. But life sometimes puts people in difficult situations. It is very scary to see a loved one die and not know how to help him.

What is drowning?

This is a life-threatening condition characterized by the inability to breathe as a result of a person getting into water or other liquid. This often fills the airways with water, although this is not strictly necessary. Death from respiratory failure can occur even if the lungs remain dry. On this basis, by the way, different types of drowning are distinguished.

Classification by mechanism leading to death

True drowning. It is called so because in this case, water (or other liquid) enters the lungs. The pathological processes underlying true drowning differ depending on whether the drowning has occurred in fresh or salt water. In the first case, water quickly penetrates from the alveoli into the vascular bed, thinning the blood and destroying red blood cells. Salt water, on the contrary, promotes the release of plasma from the vessels, which is accompanied by thickening of the blood, as well as the development of pulmonary edema.
Asphyxia drowning. In this case, water does not enter the lungs, since the glottis closes, protecting the respiratory tract from the penetration of liquid into them. However, breathing still becomes impossible, because with laryngospasm, air is also not allowed through. A person dies from suffocation.
Syncope drowning. The main cause of death is reflex cardiac arrest. At the same time, the lungs remain "dry". A similar situation is possible when drowning in very cold water.

Classification by the color of the victim's skin

Types of drowning by skin color:

White asphyxia. As the name suggests, it is characterized by a pronounced pallor of the skin. Occurs if the airways are not flooded with liquid. This type is most typical for the syncope mechanism of drowning, when death occurs as a result of the cessation of cardiac activity.
Blue asphyxia. It occurs when the victim makes a breathing movement, as a result of which the lungs are filled with water. The skin becomes cyanotic due to severe hypoxia. Death occurs due to respiratory failure. Cardiac arrest occurs after the cessation of breathing.

Appearance of the victim

Different types of drowning have certain differences in clinical manifestations.

If the victim was conscious at the time of immersion in the water, the scenario for the development of events looks something like this. A person tries to escape by swallowing water. Breathing becomes impossible, the body experiences hypoxia, as a result of which a characteristic bluish color of the skin appears. Expansion of the veins of the neck is often observed. Pink foam comes out of the mouth. If a person is removed from the water at the stage of agony, breathing and cardiac activity can still be preserved.

If drowning was preceded by depression of the central nervous system, laryngospasm often occurs. The lungs are not filled with water, but death also occurs as a result of asphyxiation. The skin becomes bluish.

It occurs against the background of severe fright or cold shock. The cessation of cardiac activity comes to the fore in pathogenesis. The skin is pale, there is no discharge of fluid and foam from the victim's nose and mouth, which is characteristic of other types of drowning. White asphyxia is most favorable for resuscitation, the time with it can be significantly lengthened.

Basic principles of drowning rescue

The types of drowning are varied and require different approaches to care, but the general principles remain the same in all cases.

All activities include 2 stages:

Removing the victim from the water.
Providing assistance ashore.

How to save a drowning person correctly?

No matter how different types of drowning may differ from each other, first aid for drowning should begin with ensuring the safety of the rescuer himself. A drowning person (if he is still conscious) can behave extremely inadequately. That is why, when pulling the victim out of the water, care should be taken. Otherwise, the rescuer risks himself being in the role of a drowning man.

If the person is close enough to the shore, you can try to reach him with a stick, use a rope or other device to pull him out. If the victim is too far away, you will have to swim to get to him. The main thing in this situation is not to forget about the danger, because the victim can drown his savior. Therefore, you need to act quickly and unceremoniously. It is best to swim up to the drowning person from behind and wrap one hand around his neck, you can grab his hair (this is even safer), and then pull him out onto land as soon as possible.

Remember: you don't need to get into the water if you don't swim well yourself!

when drowning. Activities ashore

There are different types of drowning, and their symptoms are discussed above. This knowledge must be taken into account when providing assistance to the victim.

Everything is extremely simple if the person taken out of the water is conscious. The main actions will be aimed at warming him and calming him down.
If the person is unconscious, the first thing to do is to remove water from the respiratory tract. With white asphyxia, this is not necessary (the mechanism of this type of drowning is discussed above), you can immediately proceed to resuscitation.
With the blue type of drowning, we first cleanse the mouth and nose of algae, sand, etc. Then we press on the root of the tongue, thereby determining the presence of a gag reflex. Preservation of the latter means that the victim is alive, so the first priority will be to remove water from the lungs and stomach. To do this, turn the victim onto his stomach, turn his head to one side, induce vomiting in him several times, press on the chest. Then we repeat these actions every 5-10 minutes, until water stops coming out of the mouth and nose. It is necessary to monitor breathing and pulse, be ready to perform resuscitation.
If the gag reflex is absent, an urgent need to check for the presence of vital functions. Most likely, they will not be. Therefore, you should not spend a lot of time (no more than 1-2 minutes) to remove water from the lungs, but start resuscitation as soon as possible.

Above were given various approaches to providing assistance to the victim. There are different types of drowning, it is not surprising that they require different measures. However, it is always carried out according to a certain plan, which is not influenced by the causes that led to clinical death.

What is included in the package of activities to revitalize?

Restoration of airway patency.
Artificial respiration.
Indirect cardiac massage.

No matter how different types of drowning may differ, first aid always begins with cleansing the mouth and nose of sand, algae, vomit, etc. Then water is removed from the lungs. To this end, the victim should be turned face down and laid with his stomach on his knee. The head will thus be lower than the body. You can now apply pressure to the chest, encouraging fluid to drain from the lungs. If a small child is being helped, he can be thrown over his shoulder, head down, or even taken by the legs and turned over, thereby creating more favorable conditions for water to drain from the lungs.

Next, we proceed to the execution. The victim should be laid on a hard surface, his head tilted back, his lower jaw should be pushed forward with his fingers and, pressing on his chin, his mouth should be opened. Now you can proceed to. Pressing your lips tightly to the victim's mouth, exhale. The criterion for effectiveness will be the lift of the chest. After two exhalations, we begin with the Base of the right hand on the lower third of the sternum, place the left hand on top of the right. We begin to perform chest compressions, making sure that the arms remain straight, do not bend at the elbows. According to the latest guidelines (2015), the ratio of exhalation to compression should be 2:30 regardless of whether one or two rescuers are performing resuscitation.

In conclusion

Never forget about the rules of conduct on the water. It is easier to prevent a tragedy than to try to fix it. Remember: life is given only once. Take care of her and do not play with death.

Content

Recreation by the pond is not always pleasant. Improper behavior in the water or emergencies can lead to drowning. Young children are especially at risk, but even adults who are good at swimming can become victims of strong currents, seizures, and whirlpools. The sooner the victim is removed from the water, and first aid is provided 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 respiratory distress caused by immersion or prolonged exposure to water. As a result, breathing disorder, asphyxia may occur. If first aid was not provided to a drowning man in 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 it is necessary to act very quickly, without waiting for the ambulance crew.

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

injuries from diving in shallow water, in unexplored places;
alcoholic intoxication;
emergencies (seizures, heart attack, diabetic or hypoglycemic coma, stroke);
inability to swim;
negligence towards the child (when children drown);
getting into whirlpools, storm.

Signs of drowning

Drowning symptoms are easy to spot. The victim begins to flounder, or swallows air through his mouth like a fish. Often, a person spends all his energy to keep his head above water and breathe, so he cannot cry for help. A spasm of the vocal cords may also occur. The drowning man is seized with panic, he is lost, which reduces his chances of self-salvation. When the victim was already 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;
vomit.

Types of drowning

There are several types of drowning, each with its own characteristics. They include:

"Dry" (asphyxial) drowning. A person submerges 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 man begins to choke. Asphyxiation sets in.
"Wet" (true). Plunging into water, a person does not lose the respiratory instinct. The lungs and bronchi are filled with fluid, foam can be released from the mouth, cyanosis of the skin manifests itself.
Fainting (syncope). Another name is pale drowning. The skin acquires a characteristic white, gray-white, bluish color. The lethal outcome occurs as a result of a reflex cessation of the work of the lungs and heart. Often this happens due to temperature differences (when a drowning person is immersed in ice water), hitting the surface. Fainting, loss of consciousness, arrhythmia, epilepsy, heart attack, clinical death occurs.

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. While on the shore, the first thing to do is call a lifeguard for help. The specialist knows exactly how to act. If he is not around, you can try to pull the person out on your own, but you need to remember about the danger. A drowning person is in a stressful state, his coordination is impaired, so he can involuntarily grab the rescuer, not allowing him to grab himself. There is a high probability of drowning together (with improper behavior in the water).

Drowning emergency

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

Wrap the finger with a soft cloth, clean the mouth of the rescued with it.
If there is fluid in the lungs, you need to put the person on his knee with his stomach down, lower his head, make a few blows between the shoulder blades.
If necessary, do artificial respiration, heart massage. It is very important not to press too hard on the ribcage to avoid breaking the ribs.
When a person wakes up, you should free him from wet clothes, wrap him with a towel, and let him warm up.

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 less dangerous and has a better prognosis. The high concentration of salt prevents water from entering the lung tissue. However, the blood thickens, there is pressure on the circulatory system. Within 8-10 minutes, a complete cardiac arrest occurs, but during this time you can have time to reanimate a drowning person.

When it comes to fresh water drowning, the process is more complicated. When fluid enters the cells of the lungs, they swell, some cells burst. Fresh water can be absorbed into the blood, making it more liquid. Capillaries rupture, which interferes with cardiac activity. Ventricular fibrillation, cardiac arrest occurs. This entire process takes several minutes, so death in fresh water occurs much faster.

First aid on the water

A specially trained person should be involved in the rescue of a drowning person. However, he is not always nearby, or several people may drown in the water. Any vacationer who can swim well can provide first aid. To save someone's life, the following algorithm should be used:

It is necessary to gradually approach the victim from behind, dive in and cover the solar plexus, taking the drowning person by the right hand.
Swim to the shore on your back, paddle with your right hand.
It is important to ensure that the victim's head is above the water and does not swallow the liquid.
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. Inappropriate behavior by a stranger often only aggravates the problem. For this reason, first aid for drowning must be competent. What is the mechanism of PMP:

After the person is pulled out of the water and covered with a blanket, symptoms of hypothermia (hypothermia) should be checked.
Call an ambulance.
Avoid deformation of the spine or neck, do not cause damage.
Secure the cervical spine with a rolled-up towel.
If the victim does not breathe, you should start performing artificial respiration, heart massage

With true drowning

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

probing the pulse, examining the pupils;
warming the victim;
maintaining blood circulation (raising the legs, tilting the body);
the production of ventilation of the lungs with the help of breathing apparatus;
if the person is not breathing, artificial respiration should be given.

With asphyxial drowning

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

immediately carry out cardiopulmonary resuscitation;
call an ambulance;
when the victim recovers, warm him up.

Artificial respiration and heart massage

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

The victim's lips should be parted, mucus, algae should be removed with a finger wrapped in a cloth. Allow the liquid to drain from the oral cavity.
Grasp your cheeks so that your mouth does not close, tilt your head back, raise your chin.
Pinch the nose of the rescued person, breathe air directly into his mouth. The process takes a split second. Number of repetitions: 12 times per minute.
Check the pulse in the neck.
After a while, the chest will lift (the lungs will begin to function).

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

Place the patient on a flat surface (floor, sand, ground).
Place one hand on the chest, cover with the other hand at an angle of approximately 90 degrees.
Press rhythmically on the body (approximately one pressure per second).
To start the baby's heart, press on the chest with 2 fingers (due to the baby's small stature and weight).
If there are two rescuers, artificial respiration and cardiac massage are performed at the same time. 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 has come 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 prolonged unconsciousness and oxygen, the following problems may arise:

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

To avoid complications, you should take care of your health as quickly as possible. Rescued from drowning should take the following precautions:

learn to swim;
avoid drinking and bathing;
do not go into too cold water;

Discuss

The rules of rescue and the provision of emergency first aid to a drowning man - an algorithm of resuscitation actions

It is your direct responsibility to provide help to a drowning man. In order for help to be effective, it is not enough to be able to swim, you should also know a number of rescue techniques.

Submerging to sinking

Swim up to the drowning person quickly, however, counting on your strength. Tired, tired, you can hardly bring real help.

Swim up behind, thus depriving the drowning person of the opportunity to grab your hands or head. Only very good swimmers can disregard this rule.

First of all, strive to raise the victim's head above the surface of the water, making it easier for the drowning person to breathe. Having received air, the drowning person stops making convulsive movements that only make it difficult to save him.

If a drowning man grabbed you by the arms, legs, or head, immediately take action to free yourself.

While grabbing one of your hands, sharply turn your hand against his thumb and jerk towards you.

If your hand is caught in both hands of a drowning person, proceed as shown here.

In case of grabbing both of your hands, turn them against the thumbs of the drowning person and at the same time pull your hands towards you.

Before releasing, inhale the air and go into the water with the whole body.

The pictures show the basic techniques for releasing both hands from behind, behind the body in front and behind.

Push the victim up under any circumstances.

If you get tired and want to take a break, do not swim away from it on the surface, but go diving underwater.

Your task is the fastest delivery of the drowned man to the shore.

CAPTURE AND TRANSPORTATION OF THE Drowning

Turn the drowning person's back to you, put your palms on the lower jaw, fingers on the chin of the drowning person, without closing his mouth. Straighten your arms. Lie on your back and, moving breaststroke, swim to the nearest shore. Keep the face of the drowning person on the surface at all times.

Another position is also suitable. Turn the victim slightly on their side. Pass your hand over the armpit of the drowning person's upper arm. Grab the wrist or forearm of the drowning person's other hand with the same hand. Turn yourself on your side. Working vigorously with your arms and legs, swim to the shore on your side.

WHAT TO DO ON DRY

If drowning is unconscious, apply artificial respiration immediately upon arrival ashore.

Artificial respiration is performed by compressing the victim's chest at regular intervals 15-16 times a minute.

While contracting and expanding, it performs the same movements as during normal breathing. Swimming 100 meters free style is considered excellent if the distance is covered in less than 2 minutes 10 seconds, and good - when the time is 2 minutes 10 seconds - 2 minutes 25 seconds.

Swimming in uniform is considered excellent if you swim 40 meters, and good if you swim 30 meters.

Long diving is considered excellent at 12 meters and good at 10 meters.

Swimming for a distance of 400 meters is surrendered after a thorough study of different styles.

You should strive to fulfill these norms, to maximize the time required to swim any distance.

Each swimming lesson should be strictly regulated, since the load experienced by the body is very great without habit. The swimming lesson lasts approximately 45 minutes and consists of exercises on land (10 minutes), entering (30 minutes) and exercises to gradually reduce the load after exercising in the water - gymnastics (5 minutes).

For a non-swimmer, it is best to practice in a group. Under the guidance of an instructor, you will learn the work of hands and feet on land, using a bench, a board for this.

Gradually, classes must be transferred to the water, to a shallow place, no deeper than 1.4 - 1.5 meters. It is highly recommended to study footwork by the crawl and breaststroke method, holding hands at the side or sitting on the side of the pool.

When learning to crawl swimming, while standing on the bottom, start with one-handed work. Later, you will move on to mastering the work with two hands. The next stage is the work of one hand in connection with breathing and, finally, the work of the hands and breathing.

It is very good if you have accessory equipment at your disposal: circles, belts, etc. They will support you on the water, make it possible to focus all your attention on the correct functioning of your arms, legs, and the breathing apparatus.

Still, do not get carried away unnecessarily by auxiliary shells. Once you feel confident enough, let go of the belts, circles, no matter how good they are.

Content of the article: classList.toggle () "> expand

How to rescue a drowning person correctly? How effective are pre-hospital resuscitation actions? What should be done after the provision of first aid before the arrival of doctors? You will read about this and much more in our article.

Almost always, the correct provision of first aid to a drowning person saves the life of the victim, since a professional medical team will not have time to arrive at the scene in time, even if it was called immediately after the formation of a similar situation.

What is the correct way to pull the victim ashore?

It should be noted that an important element of the potential salvation of a drowning person, if he has not yet had time to submerge for a long period of time, is his correct pulling out, which ensures not only the possibility of resuscitation of the victim, but also the safety of the person helping.

Basic scheme for rescuing a drowning man:

First aid to a drowning man

After the victim has been brought ashore, it is necessary to proceed with the necessary resuscitation actions.

Algorithm of actions for first aid in case of drowning (briefly by points):

from liquid or foreign matter. The victim's oral cavity opens, dentures, vomit, mud, liquid are removed from it. When drowning directly in water, the rescuer places the person with his stomach on his knee, face down, to allow the fluid to flow freely. Two fingers are placed in the victim's mouth and pressure is applied to the root of the tongue to induce vomiting, which helps to free the respiratory tract and stomach from the water that did not have time to be absorbed;
Active pre-resuscitation actions. As part of the implementation of first aid, it is necessary to continue the induction of induction of vomiting in the victim in the initial position from 1 point until a cough appears. If this process does not give an effect, then in the overwhelming majority of cases there is no free liquid in the respiratory tract and stomach, since it has managed to be absorbed;
Immediate resuscitation. The victim is turned over on his back and placed in a horizontal position, after which the rescuer proceeds to heart massage and artificial respiration.

How to provide first aid for drowning, see the video:

With true (wet) drowning

How to provide first aid to a drowning man? As part of the provision of first aid for the rescue of a drowning man, when the incident occurred directly within the reservoir and a large amount of water got into the human body, the above measures are performed.

Their average duration is 2 to 3 minutes for the primary two stages. At the same time, artificial respiration and indirect heart massage are effective on average for 6-8 minutes. After 10 minutes and the absence of any signs of heartbeat and breathing, with a high degree of probability, the person cannot be saved.

it
healthy
know!

An important factor in true drowning is also the circumstances of the incident. So in salt water, a person's chances of surviving in the absence of breathing and heartbeat are higher, since irreversible processes occur later than in the case of flooding with fresh water - vital processes can be restored within 10-15 minutes.

In addition to this, the temperature of the water also makes a certain contribution. When drowning in a cold or ice liquid, irreversible destruction processes are significantly slowed down. In some cases, resuscitation practice recorded situations when a person was returned to life by performing chest compressions and artificial respiration 20 and sometimes 30 minutes after drowning.

With asphyxial (dry) drowning

Asphyxia or dry drowning is a pathological circumstance that forms as a result of spasm of the glottis and suffocation, when water does not penetrate into the respiratory tract.

In general, this type of incident is considered more favorable in the context of the potential for resuscitation of a person.

What to do with dry drowning? First aid for dry drowning generally coincides with first aid, as for classical drowning, however, the second stage (attempts to induce vomiting and release the airways with the stomach from accumulated fluid) is skipped and direct resuscitation actions are immediately applied to the victim.

Reanimating actions

Within the framework of resuscitating actions to provide emergency care for drowning of a manual nature, two main procedures are performed - this is an indirect heart massage and artificial respiration. The basic rules for helping a drowning man are presented below.

Artificial respiration

The victim lies on his back, the airway opens as wide as possible, any foreign objects that impede breathing are removed from the oral cavity. If there is an air duct of a medical design, it must be used as part of the first aid for a drowning person.

The lifeguard takes a deep breath and exhales air into the victim's mouth, covering his nose wings with his fingers and supporting his chin, pressing his lips tightly to the victim's mouth. As part of forced ventilation, a person's chest should be lifted.

The average inflation time is about 2 seconds, followed by a pause of 4 seconds for a slow reflexive lowering of the drowned man's chest. Artificial respiration for drowning is repeated regularly until the appearance of stable signs of respiration or the arrival of an ambulance.

Indirect cardiac massage

Measures to start cardiac activity can be combined with the implementation of artificial respiration as part of their alternate change. To begin with, you should first strike with a fist in the area of the projection of the heart- it should be of medium strength, but rather sharp and fast. In some cases, this helps to instantly start the functioning of the heart.

If there is no effect, you need to count two fingers down from the sternum to the center of the chest, straighten your arms, placing one palm on the other, orient yourself to the connection of the lower ribs with the sternum, and then apply pressure strictly perpendicular to the heart with both hands. The heart itself is squeezed between the sternum and the spine. The main efforts are carried out with the whole torso, and not just with the arms.

The average indentation depth should not exceed 5 cm, while the approximate frequency of pressing is about 100 manipulations per minute, in cycles of 30 times with a combination of lung ventilation.

The general cycle, therefore, is as follows: 2 seconds inhalation of air into the victim, 4 seconds for his spontaneous exit, 30 massage manipulations in the heart area and repeating a cyclic double procedure.

First aid for children

It is worth noting that the chances of resuscitating a child during drowning are significantly less than an adult, since irreversible processes leading to death develop much faster in him.

On average, there is about 5 minutes to try to rescue a drowned baby.

Algorithm of actions for providing first aid for drowning a child:

Pulling the victim to the shore. It is carried out as quickly as possible, while observing the general precautionary rules described earlier;
Relief of the upper respiratory tract from foreign substances. You should open your child's mouth, try to free him from any types of foreign substances, including water, then put a knee and put the baby on his stomach, while simultaneously causing the latter to have a vomiting Reflex by pressing on the root of the tongue. The event is repeated until the child develops an active cough, and the water, along with the vomit, stops actively flowing out;
Resuscitation measures. If there is no effect, the procedure from the previous paragraph or the presence of signs of a "dry" type of drowning, the child is turned over on his back, laid in a horizontal position and he is given an indirect heart massage, as well as artificial respiration.

Further steps to rescue

If the victim managed to start breathing heartbeat, then he lies on his side, while continuing to remain in a horizontal position. The person is covered with a blanket or a towel for warming, while his condition is constantly monitored and in case of repeated cessation of breathing or heartbeat, manual resuscitation is resumed.

It should be understood that regardless of the circumstances, even if a person is in a satisfactory condition, it is necessary to wait for the arrival of the ambulance team, which will provide first aid in case of drowning. Specialists will competently assess the potential risks for the victim and decide whether or not they need to be hospitalized.

In some cases, the ingress of a significant amount of water into the lungs, secondary cerebral edema and other symptoms appear after a certain period of time, medium-term for health does not exist only when more than 5 days have occurred after drowning, while no pathological symptoms in a person have manifested themselves.

Types of drowning

In general, modern medicine distinguishes between three types of drowning:

True drowning. The main sign of such an incident is the ingress of a large amount of water into the lungs and stomach, against the background of which there is an edema of the corresponding tissues and irreversible destruction of their structure. Occurs in each of the 5 reported cases;
Asphyxia drowning. It can also occur on water, however, the liquid itself does not penetrate into the lungs of the stomach, since before this process a pronounced spasm of the vocal cords is formed with a complete cessation of respiratory activity. All basic pathological processes are associated with direct suffocation and shock. Occurs in 40 percent of cases;
Syncope drowning. It is characterized by reflex cardiac arrest, in the overwhelming majority it causes an almost instant death. Occurs in 10 percent of cases;
Mixed drowning. Shows signs of both classic "wet" and asphyxial drowning. It is diagnosed in an average of 15 percent of victims.

Difference between sea water and fresh water

Classical medicine distinguishes between drowning in fresh and seawater for a number of characteristic features:

Fresh water. There is a stretching of the alveoli and the penetration of the corresponding fluid into the bloodstream by direct diffusion through a violation of the integrity of the alveolar-capillary membrane. Hypotonic hyperhydration develops sharply, the functioning of the blood flow is disrupted.
Due to the absorption of hypotonic waters into the vascular bed, pulmonary edema, hypervolemia, hyperosmolarity, blood thinning with an increase in its volume are formed.
Fibrillation of the ventricles occurs, which cannot cope with a large amount of "diluted" biological fluid. In general, irreversible damage occurs quickly;
Salty water... The fluid enters the alveoli, which leads to hypertensive dehydration, an increase in the amount of sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium, as well as chlorine in the blood plasma. In fact, there is no liquefaction, but, on the contrary, a thickening of the blood, while irreversible disorders for the body occur more slowly than with fresh water (up to 25 percent).

The processes described above are often categorized as descriptive characteristics of 20th century medical literature.

Modern large-scale studies show that the pathogenesis of drowning in fresh and salt water does not differ significantly in the context of clinical hazard.

Accordingly, the difference in potential resuscitation capacity is virtually negligible and is only a few minutes. As real practice shows, the chances of restoring brain function and vital signs are significantly increased by cases of drowning at very low temperatures, especially in children with low body weight.

Some physicians recorded cases of complete resumption of vital activity 30 minutes after drowning, while the victim had no breathing and no heartbeat all the time.

Drowning statistics are alarming - according to various estimates, every year from 3,000 to 10,000 people drown in Russia, this is the population of a small town. The most common cause of death on water, experts call alcohol intoxication, it accounts for about 40% of all cases of drowning. The second most common reason is overconfidence, as strange as it sounds. People overestimate their capabilities and underestimate the risks associated with swimming in water, and this sometimes leads to tragic consequences.

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

Do not go into the water while intoxicated;
Do not dive in an unfamiliar place;
Do not swim close to ships, do not stay on the course of the ship, even if this ship is a small boat, motor boat or pedal boat;
Do not swim far on air mattresses, circles, toys, etc .;
Do not arrange dangerous games in the water associated with comic drowning, seizures, fright, being pulled under the water;
Children should be near the water, and even more so in the water, only accompanied by adults and under their vigilant supervision.

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 correct the actions of the rescuer were.

How to properly pull the victim ashore

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

It is necessary to approach the victim from behind, grab in such a way that he cannot grab onto the rescuer (this happens reflexively, the drowning person is not able to control his actions). Classical for rescuers is considered to be grabbing the victim from behind by the hair, if their length allows. No matter how rude it may sound, nevertheless, this option is effective, since it allows you to move quite comfortably and quickly, keep the victim's head above the water and protect yourself from the fact that, grabbing a dead grip, he will drag the rescuer to a depth;
If, nevertheless, the drowning man grabbed the rescuer and pulls him down, you need not fight back, but dive - in this case, the drowning person will instinctively unclench his hands.

Source: Methods for capturing the victim in the water

Types of drowning

When the victim is dragged ashore, it is necessary to quickly assess what type of drowning had to be faced, since the first aid algorithm will depend on this.

There are two main types of drowning:

Blue, or wet (sometimes it is also called true drowning) - when a large amount of water has entered the stomach and respiratory tract. The victim's skin turns blue because 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 - a large amount of pink foam is released from the victim's mouth and nose, and breathing becomes bubbling;
Pale, or dry (also called asphytic drowning) - when, during 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 subsequent suffocation. Pale drowning has a better prognosis.

First aid algorithm

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

Since a wet or blue type drowning, there is a lot of liquid in the victim's airways, the rescuer must place him on his knee with his stomach, face down to drain the water, put two fingers in the victim's mouth and press on the root of the tongue. This is done not only in order to induce vomiting, which will help free the airways and stomach from the water that has not had time to be absorbed, but also in order to help start the respiratory process.

If everything worked out, and the rescuer achieved the appearance of vomit (their distinguishing feature is the presence of undigested pieces of food), this means that the first aid arrived in time, carried out correctly, and the person will live. Nevertheless, you need to continue to help him remove water from the respiratory tract and stomach, without stopping to press on the root of the tongue and causing the gag reflex again and again - until the vomiting process ceases to produce water. At this stage, a cough appears.

If several attempts in a row to induce vomiting were unsuccessful, if at least shortness of breath or cough 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 onto his back and proceed to resuscitation.

First aid for dry drowning differs in that in this case, resuscitation should be started immediately after the upper airways are released, skipping the stage of inducing vomiting. In this case, there is 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:

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

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

Actions after first aid

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

The rescuer must necessarily insist on medical assistance to the victim, even if he is able to move independently and refuses it. The fact is that the formidable consequences of drowning, such as swelling of the brain or lungs, sudden respiratory arrest, etc., can occur in a few hours, and even a few days after the accident. The danger is considered to have passed only when, 5 days after the incident, no serious health problems have arisen.