Drowning is nothing like what you see in the movies.
On screen, drowning is often portrayed as a loud, dramatic struggle, with frantic splashing, desperate waving and cries for help.
While these scenes make for gripping cinema, they paint a dangerously misleading picture of what drowning actually looks like.
A child slips beneath the surface while a parent stands only metres away.
A swimmer disappears underwater without anyone noticing until it is too late.
In real life, the above scenarios are what drowning actually looks like.
According to Red Rescue chief executive officer and founder Manigandaa Keertan, many people expect drowning to be obvious, when in reality it is often difficult to recognise.
“About 90% of the time, drowning is very quiet and silent,” he says.
“Someone can be right beside you and you may not even realise they’re drowning because they don’t look like what people expect.”
In conjunction with World Drowning Day on June 25, we take a look at why drowning is often difficult to recognise and how it typically unfolds.
How drowning progresses
According to Manigandaa, drowning often progresses through three phases, although not every incident follows the same sequence.
Recognising these phases can help bystanders identify someone in trouble earlier.
The first phase is a distressed swimmer.
At this stage, the person is still aware of their surroundings and knows they are in difficulty.
“For example, they may develop a cramp while swimming, grab onto the nearest wall or lane rope, and signal to a lifeguard for help,” he says.
“They can still communicate.”
The second phase is active drowning.
This occurs when a person can no longer keep themselves afloat.
They may venture into deeper water, realise they can no longer touch the bottom and begin struggling to stay above the surface.
Although they may appear to be splashing, their priority is trying to breathe, not calling for help, making drowning difficult for bystanders to recognise.
Without intervention, active drowning can quickly progress to passive drowning.
During this final phase, the person loses consciousness and sinks beneath the surface.
From a distance, they may appear to be holding their breath underwater or floating face down.
“But unfortunately, they’re already unconscious or gone.
“It could happen because they’ve had a heart attack, or because they’ve been actively drowning for around 30 to 45 seconds without anyone noticing or rescuing them.
“At that point, their lungs fill with water and they sink beneath the surface,” he explains.
Help without becoming another victim
When someone is drowning, our first instinct is often to jump into the water to help.
But that split-second decision can quickly turn one victim into two.
Manigandaa says: “We see this happen in many drowning cases.
“One person gets into trouble, then a bystander jumps in to help.
“Instead of one victim, you end up with two drowning people because the rescuer couldn’t save himself.”
A person who is drowning is fighting to breathe and will instinctively grab onto anything that keeps them above the surface, including another person.
If they grab hold of a rescuer, they can easily pull both people underwater.
“That is why your first priority is always your own safety,” he says.
“You don’t need to be a certified lifeguard to save someone.
“The goal is to help without putting yourself in danger.”
If you end up in the water and the victim grabs you, free yourself and create distance before attempting another rescue.
“You still have time to think.
“Use that time to choose the safest rescue method,” Manigandaa says.
Once the person is out of the water, call emergency services immediately and check whether they are responsive and breathing.
“If they’re not breathing, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) should be started immediately while someone calls an ambulance,” he says.
More importantly, Manigandaa stresses that CPR should only be performed by someone who has been properly trained and certified.
Try to stay afloat
If you’re struggling to stay afloat and no one is around to help, your survival may depend on what you do next.
According to Manigandaa, the first piece of advice people often hear is, “Don’t panic.”
“Of course, that’s easier said than done.
“If you’re on a plane that’s about to crash, everyone is going to panic,” he says.
If you realise you’re in trouble – whether you’ve drifted into deeper water, can’t touch the bottom or suddenly develop a cramp – your first priority is to stay on the surface.
Manigandaa explains that air in the lungs increases buoyancy, helping a person stay afloat.
The more you exhale, the less air your body contains, making it easier to sink.
“If you begin to panic, hold your breath,” he says.
“That gives you two important advantages.
“You still have oxygen, which helps you think more clearly, and the air in your lungs helps keep you afloat.”
Once you’ve regained some control, slowly move towards the nearest wall, a lane rope or any object you can hold on to.
The aim is to conserve energy while remaining above the surface until help arrives or you can reach safety.
He also advises against lifting your head too high out of the water.
“The higher you lift your head, the more of your body rises above the surface.
“That makes your body heavier in the water and causes your legs to sink, making you tire much more quickly.”
Contrary to popular belief, Manigandaa says people do not immediately sink when they enter deep water.
“You only begin to sink as you lose the air in your lungs and run out of oxygen.”
Learn to survive, not just swim
While knowing what to do during an emergency can improve your chances of survival, Manigandaa says the best protection is preparation.
“Everyone needs to understand their own swimming ability and know what they can and cannot do,” he says.
He encourages people to learn proper swimming and water safety skills through formal lessons rather than relying solely on experience in shallow pools.
Many people learn to swim in shallow pools where they can stand when they become tired.
“They think they’ve mastered swimming because they can complete a few laps.”
This can create a false sense of confidence, as deep water requires the ability to tread water and stay afloat without touching the bottom.
To prepare for these situations, he recommends practising in deep water under proper supervision whenever possible.
“The goal of learning to swim isn’t simply learning how to move through the water.
“It’s learning how to survive,” Manigandaa asserts.
A child’s first lifeguard
For Manigandaa, one message stands above all others: parents are their child’s first lifeguard.
“Based on our experience, around 60% to 70% of drowning incidents involve children,” he says.
“Many of these cases could have been prevented with proper supervision.”
One incident that has stayed with him happened about five years ago while he was on duty at a swimming pool.
A family had asked their 10-year-old to watch two younger siblings while the parents were nearby.
Unnoticed, the family’s four-year-old wandered into the main pool alone.
“The lifeguard immediately pulled him out of the water and assessed him.
“He was unconscious, although he was still breathing,” recalls Manigandaa.
After giving the child rescue breaths and placing him in the recovery position, the lifeguard successfully revived him.
He says the youngest child had quietly followed his older siblings into the deeper pool after they went to see whether they could stand.
“The older children became distracted while playing and forgot he had followed them.”
Within about 30 seconds, the lifeguard noticed the child and intervened.
“It was an extremely close call. We were very close to losing that child,” he says.
For Manigandaa, the incident is a reminder that parents should never rely on older siblings to supervise younger children.
“We always make that very clear,” he says.
“Parents may only be responsible for one child, or perhaps three or four.
“A lifeguard, on the other hand, may be supervising 60 to 80 people at the same time.
“You can’t expect a lifeguard to watch every person every second.”
He also warns parents not to rely on inflatable arm bands or swim rings as safety devices.
“They can deflate, slip off or flip over,” he points out.
“If they come off, children who think they can swim may suddenly find themselves in danger.”
For children under five, parents should stay within arm’s reach at all times.
Older children should remain under constant visual supervision, and younger children should never be left in the care of older siblings alone.
Manigandaa says: “Even if they’re responsible, they usually aren’t mature enough to understand how quickly a drowning incident can happen.”
“A moment of distraction is all it takes.”
