The terms “dry drowning” and “secondary drowning” have appeared in the media in recent years. Although the terms “dry drowning” and “secondary drowning” have been used to describe very real medical conditions associated with drowning, the medical community generally does not use this terminology.
That’s because any “drowning is drowning,” says Dr. Michael D. Patrick, Jr., MD, associate professor of pediatrics at Ohio State University and emergency room physician at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Regardless of whether you experienced a drowning in which your lungs were completely filled with water, or whether the symptoms of drowning took a little time to appear, doctors usually call it drowning. Here is what you need to understand about these different events and the signs associated with them.
What are the signs of drowning?
Drowning is a “significant injury caused by immersion in water,” Patrick explains. When your lungs are functioning normally, you inhale oxygen, which then enters your bloodstream. When you exhale, carbon monoxide exits your bloodstream and is released into the air.
If water enters the lungs, “your body cannot extract oxygen from the water,” impairing your body’s vital respiratory functions. Without sufficient oxygen, suffocation can occur, he explains.
Drowning happens extremely quickly and serious injury can occur within 20 to 60 seconds. There are obvious signs of drowning — someone is likely to remain silent, still, arms stiff, head bobbing up and down in the water, according to WebMD.
What is “dry drowning”?
With “dry drowning,” water never enters the lungs, according to the Detroit Medical Center. On the contrary, when water is inhaled through the nose or mouth, laryngospasm can occur, causing the muscles around the vocal cords to contract, Patrick explains. As a result, this contraction restricts airflow to your lungs and can also make it difficult to put a breathing tube down your throat. A misconception is that this event could occur hours after exposure to water, but it is more likely that it would occur immediately after exposure to water, he notes.
What is “secondary drowning”?
“Secondary drowning” is another rare situation in which the symptoms of drowning do not appear immediately. “Sometimes there may be a little water in the lungs, but it’s not enough water to prevent oxygen delivery,” says Patrick.
How is it possible to experience “delayed” symptoms of drowning? Deep in our lungs, there is “a soapy substance called surfactant, (which) keeps the little air sacs open,” he says. If enough water enters the lungs, it can wash away the surfactant, causing the air sacs in your lungs to collapse. Subsequently, “the body responds to this by drawing fluid into the lungs,” which is medically called pulmonary edema, Patrick explains.
The biggest myth associated with “secondary drowning” is that it can occur within days of an event in which a person was submerged in water. “That’s not the case, that’s always the case within 24 hours,” he adds. During this time, it is absolutely essential to “keep a very close eye on your children or anyone who has experienced any event in the water.” However, “if they’re okay after 24 hours, they’ll be okay,” Patrick says.
However, even though these terms are used in the media to describe very real conditions associated with drowning, in the medical community, “we don’t really like to talk about ‘delayed drowning’ or ‘secondary drowning’ because it s It’s just drowning. », reiterates Patrick.
What to do when you see signs of drowning
If you or a loved one experience symptoms of drowning, including “persistent coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, (or) any chest or breathing discomfort,” it is imperative to seek medical attention and call 911, Patrick said.
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News Source : www.usatoday.com
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