Warmer weather hits and so do the stories of kids dying from "dry drowning" or "secondary drowning". It's terrifying to read these stories as a parent, and now I'm a nervous wreck when my kids are anywhere near water.

I came across an article on chicagotribune.com today that calmed my dry drowning fears a little bit, but it still left me thinking, "huh?".

According to the Trib;

“Everyone needs to calm down,” said Dr. Peter Wernicki, member of the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council. “This whole thing has totally been over-hyped by social media and people who are not knowledgeable on the subject.

Umm...ok. How is a child dying several hours, or even days, after a water incident that involved them inhaling large amounts of water "over-hyped"? Here's the explanation Dr. Werniciki gave the Chicago Tribune;

 

the misconception is that these children showed no symptoms between the time they left the water and when their parents noticed breathing distress, Wernicki said. It leads parents to worry that even if their child seems OK and is breathing normally, they could still be in danger.

“That just doesn’t happen,” he said. “A child doesn’t (act fine) for eight hours and then die (from drowning).”

In some of these incidents, the child contracted aspiration pneumonia — an infection that develops from water trapped in the lungs. But that isn’t drowning, Wernicki said. It’s a rare condition, he added, and a child with it would show symptoms, including coughing and labored breathing many hours after leaving the waterand parents would know something was wrong.

 

Ok, so is that doctor saying that the chance that you will find your kid dead in bed after inhaling a lot of water a week prior isn't a legit fear? Kinda. Sadly, this still happens to children, but I think what Dr. Wernicki is saying is that a parent will see symptoms if they pay attention.

If your child has a near-drowning incident, seek medical attention immediately...even if they seem ok. Better safe than sorry, right?

FYI, I'm still gonna be the nervous wreck parent when my kids are around water, maybe I just won't have as many nightmares about them dry drowning now.

What do you think?

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