Swimming

Safety

• Shallow Water Blackout
  • http://www.shallowwaterblackoutprevention.org/how-it-happens/
  • How it happens:
    1. Hyperventilation: Overbreathing either consciously or as a result of overexertion, artificially lowers carbon dioxide levels.
    2. Oxygen-level drop: As the breath hold begins oxygen is metabolized and carbon dioxide levels increase. As the breath hold continues the body becomes starved of oxygen.
    3. Unconsciousness: Under normal circumstances increased carbon dioxide would trigger a breath, but because CO2 levels were so low on submersion (due to hyperventilation), there is not enough to initiate a breath. The swimmer loses consciousness.
    4. Drowning: Once the swimmer loses consciousness, the body reacts and forces a breath. That causes the lungs to fill with water and without an immediate rescue a drowning death is all but certain.
  • Takeaway lessons:
    • Never hyperventilate before swimming
    • Never ignore the urge to breathe
    • Never swim alone
    • Never play breath-holding games
    • No repetitive underwater laps. One lap, breathe.
  • Other info
    • Unlike regular drowning where there can be 6-8 minutes before brain damage and death, there are ONLY about 2 ½ minutes before BRAIN DAMAGE then DEATH with SWB because the brain has already been oxygen deprived coupled with warm water as in swimming pools, hastening brain death.