Drowning does not happen the way most people think. On television and in movies, a frantic swimmer kicks, thrashes, and shouts, says Graham Snyder, an emergency room physician. But real-life drowning is nearly silent.
Drowning swimmers say nothing because they can barely breathe, Snyder explains. Rather than thrash, they bob up and down before quietly slipping below the surface. Amid the splashing and noise of pool play, a lifeguard’s eyes search for the child making no splashes and no sound. Drowning detection, Snyder says, is “trying to notice the unnoticeable.”
