Deachman: ‘Drowning doesn’t look like drowning’

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“Drowning doesn’t look like drowning,” says the Lifesaving Society Canada’s Sean Duffy, a comment he delivers with the equanimity of someone who’s said it too many times in the past and probably too often following tragic events.

What he means is that drowning doesn’t look like the drowning we see in movies, where someone flails about in the water while frantically shouting for help.

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“The reality is drowning is silent,” he says. “It’s quick. Often there’s very little movement.”

What often happens to drowning victims, Duffy explains, especially with weak swimmers, is that the Instinctive Drowning Response (IDR) takes over as the person attempts to keep their mouth above the water at the expense of more useful actions. As they try to keep breathing, they are physiologically unable to call out for help. They push down on the water to keep their mouths above the surface and so cannot wave for help, move towards a rescuer or reach out for a rescue device. They typically remain upright in the water without supportive kicks and, thus, only remain on the surface for between 20 and 60 seconds before they’re submerged.

To an untrained observer, a person in this state may appear to be swimming safely. Qualified lifeguards, however, will recognize that the person is drowning.

That’s part of the reason why only one per cent of the more than 400 water-related fatalities that occur each year in Canada take place in lifeguard-supervised settings.

Here are a few other statistics from the Society’s 2024 Drowning Report to bear in mind:

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• Of the drowning deaths involving children under the age of five, 93 per cent occur because of a lack of, or distracted, supervision.
• The No.1 factor in drowning deaths in Canada involving swimmers or waders is that they’re weak or non-swimmers, accounting for 31 per cent of drowning deaths. Swimming alone was the second-most common factor, at 28 per cent, while alcohol consumption, at 26 per cent, was third.
• More than one-third (34 per cent) of water-related fatalities in Canada involve swimmers. That’s almost three times as many as those engaged in fishing or walking/running/playing near water, at 12 per cent each. Power boating, at 11 per cent, was fourth.

A little closer to home, according to a report by coroner Dr. Louise McNaughton-Filion, the three people who drowned at Britannia Beach in 2020 and 2023 were all novice swimmers whose deaths occurred when the beach was unsupervised. The same was true in the case of nine-year-old José-Antonio Burpee, who drowned at Britannia this past June.

This all adds up to the importance of knowing how to swim and being aware of water safety. If you’re going to be in, on or around the water, be it a pool, river, lake or wading pool, you need those two skills above all else. I met and spoke with Burpee’s foster mother, and no one should have to experience the pain she’s suffered in the wake of his death. No one should have to feel that loss to become an advocate.

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This is especially true of new Canadians, who, according to a 2010 Lifesaving Society study, are four times more likely to be unable to swim than their Canadian-born counterparts. A 2016 study concluded that 11- to 14-year-old newcomers to Canada were five times more likely to be unable to swim, yet 93 per cent said they participated in activities in, on or around water.

According to Nargis Ehsan, community manager with Refugee 613, that’s a gap they’re trying to close, but it’s a major task given all the things that refugees have to learn about.

“The first thing that they’re mostly concerned about is where to get a job and where to enrol in English school because they need to learn it so that they can get a job and put food on the table,” she says. Swimming lessons are further down the priority list, and many don’t know where to find them when the time comes.

Additionally, many newcomers arrive after their children are too old to take part in Ontario’s Swim to Survive drowning prevention and water safety program, which teaches Grade 3 students the minimum essential skills to survive unexpected falls into deep water. The program was developed by the Lifesaving Society, which also promotes a family version.

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Organizations such as Refugee 613, which serves as an information hub for newcomers and those supporting them, can, and do, play key roles in encouraging newcomers to learn to swim as they’re often a primary point of contact and resource. Ehsan notes the organization moved swimming and water safety up its priority list last year, developing a series of infographics in 11 languages to inform refugees of their importance.

“We’re focused on swimming and trying to have it in a plain language,” she says, “because the resources are available, but what is important is that the information is available in multiple languages and easy to understand and can get the attention of newcomers.”

Numerous programs already exist, including the city’s Hand in Hand one, which offers recreation fee reductions to lower-income residents, and its I Love to Swim program, which, through a partnership with Canadian Tire’s Jumpstart charities, teaches youngsters to swim. The city also offers a Swim City program.

Others, such as Dovercourt Recreation, Aqua-tots and BGCOttawa (formerly the Boys and Girls Clubs of Ottawa), also offer swimming instruction.

Because here’s another thing about drowning: It’s preventable. You can talk about lifeguard shortages and beach signage and drop-off zones, all of which are important considerations that I’ve written about in previous columns. But learning about water safety and how to swim are the most important ways to prevent drowning. There are resources out there. We just need to get the word out.

bdeachman@postmedia.com

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