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SALT LAKE CITY -- Experts say not enough people really know what drowning looks like, and so they don't know when they should step in and help someone. It's not at all like it appears in the movies.
If you think drowning involves screaming or flailing the arms or gasping for breath, you are wrong.
If you think drowning involves screaming or flailing the arms or gasping for breath, you are wrong.
Bart Tapp, director of Preparedness and Health and Safety Services for the Utah Region of the American Red Cross, says drowning is a silent killer.
"People who are in the stages of drowning are unable to call for help," he says.
That's because humans are built first for breathing, then speaking.
"Their mouths will alternate below the water then reappear above the surface of the water," Tapp says.
He also says arms instinctively go to the sides to try to press up from the water. Therefore, they can't reach out for help, even if someone tosses the victim something to hold on to. The eyes may get glassy, the head tilts back and hair falls into the face.
Tapp says it only takes 20 to 60 seconds for someone to silently drown.
The Red Cross offers courses to help families stay water safe this summer and stresses the importance of both maintaining supervision over swimming children and knowing what to do in an emergency. For more information, CLICK HERE.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
