Pseudo-drowning symptoms

Drowning is an emergency situation that occurs when a person falls into water because they cannot swim. If a person who cannot swim accidentally falls into the water and cannot be rescued in time, his life may be in danger. However, pseudo-drowning is a problem that everyone has not paid attention to, because the concept of pseudo-drowning is rather vague. Just be aware that false drowning is also harmful to the human body. But what are the symptoms of pseudo-drowning?

1. What is dry drowning?

Dry drowning mainly refers to laryngeal spasm caused by strong stimulation (including cold stimulation, fright, terror) and excessive tension, resulting in closure of the glottis and inability to breathe normally, followed by lack of oxygen. In severe cases, suffocation or even death may occur. Simply put, dry drowning is caused by holding your breath, while delayed drowning is caused by inhaling water into the lungs, leading to pulmonary edema or lung infection, which can cause drowning.

2. Symptoms and causes of dry drowning

When dry drowning occurs, the first symptoms to appear are dry lips, difficulty breathing, swelling of the face, drowsiness, fatigue, etc., followed by coma, suffocation, and even drowning. From the perspective of pathogenesis, it mainly causes cerebral edema and post-asphyxial reflex malignant arrhythmia and cardiac arrest. But for now, the mechanism of occurrence of this disease is still unclear. The causes are mostly secondary pulmonary edema, bronchitis or lung abscess. It may also be related to water entering the lungs and destroying the lung surfactant.

3. How to prevent dry drowning

When swimming, in addition to paying attention to your reaction after getting ashore, you should also warm up before swimming and avoid eating too much. Once someone is found to have symptoms of dry drowning, be sure to tilt the patient's head back, clear foreign objects from the patient's mouth, lift the lower jaw to ensure the patient can breathe freely, and send the patient to a doctor immediately.

4. What to do if someone is drowning

Once we find someone drowning, we can do the following: If you find a swimmer showing symptoms such as severe choking, be sure to prevent him from drowning. Stop the person from swimming and get him ashore immediately. If the drowning person is found unconscious, clear any foreign objects from his mouth and nose, stabilize him in a side-lying position, and call 120. Perform artificial respiration and chest compressions on those who are not breathing; after a drowning person is rescued, call 120 even if he or she appears to be fine. At the same time, pay attention to keeping the drowning person warm, accompany the drowning person to wait for rescue or send them directly to the hospital for medical treatment and observation. Within the next three days, if symptoms such as severe coughing, difficulty breathing, chest pain, sweating and fatigue occur, you must seek medical attention as soon as possible; regardless of whether children have been in the water, if they have frequent coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing, slow reaction, convulsions, fatigue or even drowsiness, they should be sent to the doctor immediately.