Drowning
What should you do when you see someone drowning?
- Get immediate help from those present.
- Make sure that the area is clear for the lifeguard.
- Take the drowning person out of the water immediately if they are nearby, but if they are far you must not swim to them unless you are a skilled lifeguard.
First Aid Measures:
- Place the drowning person on their back on a flat surface, and be careful when handling them as they may be unconscious after bumping their head against something.
- Try to call the drowning person and shake their shoulders to make sure they are responding.
- If the person does not respond, check their breathing.
- Ask someone to call the Red Crescent (997).
- If the person is breathing: Place them in the recovery position and warm them up with clothes or blankets. Change their wet clothes while waiting for the ambulance.
If the person is not breathing:
- Elevate the head by placing a hand on the forehead and another hand down the chin and lifting it gently to clear the airway.
- Check their pulse by placing two fingers on the windpipe (Adam's apple).
- Start artificial respiration (mouth-to-mouth resuscitation) straight away by slowly blowing into the mouth of the person 5 times (for 1.5 to 2 seconds) while observing their chest as it rises with each blow. Wait until the chest drops back before you blow into their mouth again.
- Start cardiopulmonary resuscitation CPR (30 chest compressions).
- Repeat mouth-to-mouth resuscitation twice then do CPR once, until the person wakes up or until the ambulance arrives.
- If the drowning person starts breathing again before the ambulance arrives, they must be warmed up with clothes or blankets and their wet clothes must be changed.
- Monitor the patient and keep checking their pulse and breathing until the ambulance arrives.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Procedure:
For further information: