Dry Drowning

[Rick]

I thought this might be of interest to everyone. Especially those that spend time on the water. I assume this isn't very common but still worth knowing.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/110157.php

[Jericho117]

I saw that on the news. I think it was a young boy who drowned outside of water. Scary stuff.

[crehberg]

That is really weird. I guess you learn something new every day. Thanks for posting that Rick.

[RobertRogers]

errrr, at the end of the article it says:

"she probably wishes she had known earlier what she has learned since her son's tragic death."

What the..."probably"????

[tacmedic]

The issue with this isn't necessarity the water that gets sucked in to the lungs, it is what happens because of that water. There is "stuff" dissolved in the water that is of a higher concentration than the surrounding blood/body fluids which creates an osmotic gradient and actually pulls water into the lungs and they slowly fill with fluid. This usually happens very slowly so the onset of symptoms is fairly gradual. The body is able to compensate for a while, but eventually enough lung space is filled with fluid that there isn't enough space for air exchange and you begin to feel tired and worn out and want to sleep and can eventually drown in your own fluids. Children are especially at risk, since their lungs are a lot smaller, and their bodies are able to compensate for a longer time, but then crash very fast.