Drowning is a reality that owners and operators of swimming facilities must be fully cognizant of. Owners and operators of swimming pools and other swimming facilities, to the extent that they have safety personnel on site, need to be fully informed of what is sometimes called the Instinctive Drowning Response. Many people have the misperception that a drowning swimmer is necessarily going to be thrashing in the water attempting to stay afloat. That is frequently not the case:
- Drowning people are generally physiologically unable to call out for help simply because their respiratory system is too busy trying to ingest air.
- To the extent that the drowning person’s mouth is above the surface of the water, they are exhaling and inhaling as quickly as possible before their mouth sinks below the surface of the water.
- A drowning person instinctively extends the arms to the side and presses down on the water’s surface in order to try to stay afloat. That would prevent someone from waving for aid.
- Most drowning people remain upright in the water and are unable to kick.
These very subtle signs of drowning are things that lifeguards and other attendants need to be aware of in order to properly serve patrons.
For more information about drowning in the context of premises liability claims see the page on that topic within this site.
If you have questions about a matter involving drowning, contact us.
