“About eight persons die everyday due to drowning and that more were reported to be victims of near drowning (10 cases per day),” said the country report presented at the World Conference on Drowning Prevention (WCDP) last year.
A research done by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) listed drowning as the fourth leading cause of death from injury in the Philippines. The top five causes were road traffic accidents (20%), gun shots (17%), stabbings (14%), drowning (12%), and electrocution and falls (4% each).
According to the findings of a study conducted by Safe Kids Philippines, the Philippine Life Saving Society and the Department of Health, almost 2,000 children die yearly from drowning.
The result of the study – Child drowning in the Philippines: The silent killer speaks – ranked drowning as the second leading cause of death among children aged one to 14 years old, outnumbering deaths from serious diseases such as tuberculosis, malnutrition, diarrhea, cancer, and meningitis.
The UNICEF research found that drowning rates were highest among boys and girls less than 5 years old compared to other age groups and higher among females than males for all age groups.
In addition, the drowning rates were higher among males under 5 years and among those under 15 years compared to females of the same ages. This gender difference is largest for male toddlers whose relative risk for drowning death is 1.5 times higher than female toddlers, the research pointed out.
Drowning and near drowning are two different terms. Near drowning is “severe oxygen deprivation” (suffocation) caused by submersion in water but not resulting in death; when death occurs, the event is called drowning.
“When a person is submerged under water, water enters the lungs,” explains The Merck Manual of Medical Information. “The vocal cords may go into severe spasm, temporarily preventing water from reaching the lungs.
When filled with water, the lungs cannot efficiently transfer oxygen to the blood. The decrease in the level of oxygen in the blood that results may lead to brain damage and death.”
According to the Geneva-based World Health Organization, drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide, accounting for 7% of all injury related deaths. It defines drowning as “the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion/immersion in liquid.”
Drowning itself is quick and silent, although it may be preceded by distress which is more visible. “People who are drowning and struggling to breathe are usually unable to call for help,” the Merck manual reminds.
“Children who are unable to swim may become submerged in less than one minute compared with adults, who may struggle longer.”
What happens during the drowning event? Dr. Ben Wedro, who practices emergency medicine at Gundersen Clinic, a regional trauma center in La Crosse, Wisconsin, shares this sequence:
First, the person panics or struggles followed by submersion with breath-holding. Loss of consciousness can begin within three minutes of being under water.
The brain may suffer damage if it is deprived of oxygen for more than six minutes. The heart may go into an irregular rhythm that doesn’t allow the heart to pump blood, if it too is deprived of oxygen for more than a few minutes.
People who survived drowning may have symptoms ranging from anxiety to near death. “They may be alert, drowsy, or comatose,” the Merck manual informs.
“Some may not be breathing. People who are breathing may gasp for breath or vomit, cough, or wheeze. The skin may appear blue (cyanosis), indicating insufficient oxygen in the blood. In some cases, respiratory problems may not become evident for several hours after near drowning.”
Drowning doesn’t just happen in lakes, rivers and oceans. A person can get drowned in a bathtub – or even a wading pool. Sometimes, drowning occurs because of another injury, a heart attack or stroke that causes unconsciousness.
Sometimes, it can happen from a head injury caused by diving into shallow water. Cramps, too, can cause panic, which in turn may lead to drowning.
According to health experts, the common causes of drowning are as follows: alcohol consumption (which impairs coordination and judgment), boating accidents, child abuse or neglect, diving and scuba diving accidents, falling through the ice of a body of water, fatigue or exhaustion, illicit drug use, inability to swim, having no life preserver, failure to observe water safety rules, and suicide attempt.
Drowning is an emergency situation. Just in case you spot someone drowning far out in the water and you are on land, what should you do? “Get help as fast as you can,” suggest Dr. Stephen J. Rosenberg and Karla Dougherty, authors of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to First Aid Basics.
“As frustrating as it can be, the odds are against you. If you are not someone equipped to handle crashing waves, you are likely to become a victim instead of a hero.”
For those who want to be a hero, here’s a tip from the Wikipedia: “Rescue involves bringing the person’s mouth and nose above the water surface. A drowning person may cling to the rescuer and try to pull himself out of the water, submerging the rescuer in the process.
Thus it is advised that the rescuer approach with a buoyant object, or from behind, twisting the person’s arm on the back to restrict movement. If the rescuer does get pushed under water, they should dive downwards to escape the person.”
Drowning incidence in the Philippines has prompted the health department to develop the draft National Framework of Action on Drowning Prevention as “the first major step in the fulfillment of its commitment to eliminate drowning as a crucial concern of the country.”
The draft national framework aims to reduce the risk of drowning and near-drowning among high risk groups, more particularly children, as a result of aquatic activities such as fishing, recreational swimming, boating – and natural calamities like floods, tsunami and flashfloods.
By doing these, drowning incidence in the country would be reduced by 50 percent by 2015.
