?Dry drowning? claims 10-year-old?s life - Health - MSNBC.com

Boy’s death highlights a hidden danger: Dry drowning
10-year-old died more than an hour after getting out of swimming pool



June 5: Ten-year-old Johnny Jackson drowned about an hour after swimming in a pool. NBC’s Savannah Guthrie reports on the dangers of dry drowning, and TODAY's Meredith Vieira talks to pediatrician Dr. Daniel Rauch about hazards children face in the water.


The tragic death of a South Carolina 10-year-old more than an hour after he had gone swimming has focused a spotlight on the little-known phenomenon called “dry drowning” — and warning signs that every parent should be aware of.

“I’ve never known a child could walk around, talk, speak and their lungs be filled with water,” Cassandra Jackson told NBC News in a story broadcast Thursday on TODAY.

On Sunday, Jackson had taken her son, Johnny, to a pool near their home in Goose Creek, S.C. It was the first time he’d ever gone swimming — and, tragically, it would be his last

At some point during his swim, Johnny got some water in his lungs. He didn’t show any immediate signs of respiratory distress, but the boy had an accident in the pool and soiled himself. Still, Johnny, his sister and their mother walked home together.

“We physically walked home. He walked with me,” Jackson said, still trying to understand how her son could have died. “I bathed him, and he told me that he was sleepy.”


Later, she went into his room to check on him. “I walked over to the bed, and his face was literally covered with this spongy white material,” she said. “And I screamed.”

A family friend, Christine Meekins, was visiting and went to see what was wrong. “I pulled his arm and said, ‘Johnny! Johnny!’ ” Meekins told NBC. “There was no response. I opened one of his eyes and I just knew inside my heart that it was something really bad.”

Johnny was rushed to a local hospital, but it was too late. Johnny had drowned, long after he got out of the swimming pool.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, some 3,600 people drowned in 2005, the most recent year for which there are statistics. Some 10 to 15 percent of those deaths was classified as “dry drowning,” which can occur up to 24 hours after a small amount of water gets into the lungs. In children, that can happen during a bath.


Dr. Daniel Rauch, a pediatrician from New York University Langone Medical Center, told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira that there are warning signs that every parent should be aware of. Johnny Jackson exhibited some of them, but unless a parent knows what to look for, they are easily overlooked or misinterpreted.

The three important signs, he said, are difficulty breathing, extreme tiredness and changes in behavior. All are the result of reduced oxygen flow to the brain.

Johnny had two of those signs — he was very tired when he got home, and he had had the accident in the pool. But like most parents, Cassandra Jackson had no idea this could be related to water in his lungs.

Rauch said that the phenomenon of dry drowning is not completely understood. But medical researchers say that in some people, a small amount of inhaled water can have a delayed-reaction effect.

“It can take a while for the process to occur and to set in and cause difficulties,” Rauch said. “Because it is a lung process, difficulty breathing is the first sign that you would be worried about.”

The second sign is extreme fatigue, which isn’t always easy to spot. “It’s very difficult to tell when your child is abnormally tired versus normal tired after a hot day and running around in the pool,” Rauch said. “The job of the lungs is to get oxygen into the blood and your brain needs oxygen to keep working, so when your brain isn’t getting oxygen, it can start doing funny things. One of them is becoming excessively tired, losing consciousness and the inability to be aroused appropriately.”

Finally, there are changes in behavior, Rauch said — another tough call when dealing with very small children, whose moods and behavior can change from one minute to the next.

“Another response of the brain to not getting oxygen is to do different things,” Rauch explained, saying parents should be concerned “if your child’s abnormally cranky, abnormally combative — any dramatic change from their normal pattern.”

He admitted, “It is very difficult to pick this up sometimes.” But spotting the warning signs and getting a suspected victim to an emergency room can save a life, he added.

Victims of dry drowning are treated by having a breathing tube inserted so that oxygen can be supplied under pressure to the lungs. “Then we just wait for the lung to heal itself,” he said.

Oh my gosh how sad for that family!

I've never heard of such a thing. I know when I was little I was constantly in the pool in the summer time. Don't most people that swim end up with a little bit of water in their lungs from time to time? Every once in a while I'd forget to breath out my nose underwater and end up with a nose full.

Scary.

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I have never heard of it before.

It is so sad that this child died of it.

That's awful. I bet most people have never heard of this before. Thanks for posting!

Ive heard of it but never investigated . I suppose I will watch my nieces in our pool for now on. Thanks OP

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Wow, that is really odd. The poor little guy! We are just heading out to the pool ourselves. That is good information to know.

I had never heard of it before but I read that article a couple of days ago. Very sad and very scary!

peapie

Kathy, I saw that on the Today show.

Remember that lady who was trying to win some tickets for her kid(s) for something and the contest was to see who could drink the most water? She got water poisoning and died. Wonder if it's the same thing or close to it.

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I have heard of it but thought it was an urban legend. That is scary


The lady who died of water poisoning, died beacause the amount of water she drank threw off her elecrolite balance so much her body shut down.

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Eeks!

Was that the lady who was doing the radio contest?

Woman dies after water-drinking contest
Water intoxication eyed in ‘Hold Your Wee for a Wii’ contest death


That was so very very sad. I never knew you could drink too much water.

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Saw a report on this..... called secondary drowning. I have never heard of such a thing, but apparently if too much water gets into the lungs, this can happen. If child swallow too much water, this can happen later. If child (or anyone) acts lethargic after swallowing water, action needs to be taken.

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Oh MAN! Another thing to worry about! It is so hard being a mother!

That is so frightening. Most children are tired, even exhausted after a day of swimming. I guess you really need to pay attention to their behavior afterwards.But unless it is really obvious, how many of us would go to the ED?
So sad to hear these kinds of things.

I'd never heard of it, and that's even with having EMT's for friends.

That's an awful story to hear, how horrible for their family. I've heard of dry drowning before, and that it takes as little as 1-tsp of water to drown. But, I didn't know that it could take an hour! That's scary. I've heard of electrolyte depletion, too. But, I've wondered how much water that takes.

.

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