October 13 started out like any ordinary day for a young delivery man in China. He was fulfilling his assigned duties while riding a motorbike beside a waterway. Little did he know that his knowledge of what to do if a child is drowning would prove useful.
However, he soon spots a little girl who plunges into the river while cleaning her mop.
The delivery man didn’t hesitate at all and jumped into murky waters to rescue the little girl before she drowned.
After carrying her out, the deliveryman realises the six-year-old was missing one shoe. He selflessly dove back in the river to retrieve the matching pair.
“I noticed the girl only had one shoe on, the other one was in the river,” he said, as quoted from local media. “Since I had already gotten myself wet, I thought it was no big deal to go back in again to retrieve her shoe.”
Not all heroes wear capes or fancy coloured suits, that’s for sure!
Watch more in the video below:
What to do if a child is drowning
1. Swim towards the child and bring him out
2. Seek help if other people are nearby
You should immediately apply CPR as that can be the difference between the life or death. Here are other things to note about what to do if a child is drowning:
- If there’s no one around, perform the steps 3 – 6 before dialing 999.
- If there are people nearby, perform steps 3 – 6 below. In the meantime, ask someone else to ring 999 and to inform a lifeguard, if there is one nearby.
3. Check if the child breathes and responds
- Position your ear close by the child’s mouth and nose. If you can sense some air blowing onto your cheek, and his chest goes up and down, then he’s breathing. Gasping, though, doesn’t count.
- Check if the child can answer you by saying his name.
If the child is unconscious and not breathing…
4. Blow rescue breaths
It’s not necessary to take out water from the child’s throat before doing CPR.
- Steadily, position the child by their back onto a stable, solid surface.
- If you think that the child could have a neck or head injury, roll their whole body (head, neck, spine, and hips) together as aligned as possible.
- Tip the child’s head backwards. Raise his chin. If the child might be suffering from a neck injury, don’t tip the head – just open their jaw. If the victim is baby, stay alert – don’t tip the head too much.
- For infants, position your mouth so that it covers the baby’s nose and mouth, making a firm seal.
- For older kids, squeeze the nose and put cover the child’s mouth with your mouth, making a firm seal.
- Blow 1 breath into the child’s mouth for 1 second. Check that their chest goes up once you do so (if not, there could be something wrong). Then, do it a second time.
- Lay the heel of one of your hands onto the middle of the chest, aligning it with the nipples. Place the free hand right above that hand to help push.
- Quickly press downwards on the chest, roughly 5cm deep, then slowly free the pressure. Ensure that you’re not pressing against the victim’s ribs.
- Push down against the chest 30 times. These chest compressions should be done at a rate of 100 each minute. Only begin the next compression once the chest rises fully.
- See the child’s chest – is it expanding and then falling? If so, the child could have started breathing.
- Blow 2 breaths into the child’s mouth. Then, push 30 chest compressions.
- Repeat the step above. Stop when the child begins to breathe or emergency services arrive.
Calling 999, or emergency services, is crucial so that the child can get appropriate medical attention quickly. | Image Source: Stock Photo
RING 995 IF THE CHILD:
- Has issues breathing, or isn’t breathing at all because they’ve been submerged in liquid. (Kids can drown in no more than 3cm of water.)
- nearly drowned themselves
Parents, we hope that this article about what to do if a child is drowning has been useful. If you are keen on learning essential first aid skills, do head over to redcross.org or heart.org to learn more.
References: Shanghaiist.com, webmd
Also Read:
Mother charged after newborn dies in drowning tragedy
Father shares heartbreaking post after his son’s near-death experience
One-year-old baby girl nearly drowns on her birthday
