Earlier this summer a very heartfelt and terrifying story went viral about a boy who almost died of secondary drowning , also called dry drowning or delayed drowning. Most people were frightened not only of the situation, but also that they had no idea it could happen. "If it could happen to that little boy, it could happen to mine, right?", said the voice in our heads.
I encourage you to educate yourself about the risks of drowning and to follow up any incident with a doctor's visit if something does not seem right. You know your child best. However, it made me feel better to see this message from my child's pediatrician's (Pediatric Partners) Facebook page.
This message emphasized how rare of a situation secondary drowning actually is. It seems from Dr. Brenneman's explanation that a child would need to have almost drowned, not just coughed a few times to experience secondary drowning hours later.
It's easy be concerned about our children's safety. As a mother, I understand that fear. As a swim instructor, I hope that fear does not hinder your child's progress in the pool or keep him from swimming.
There was surprisingly little information that I could find online to share with you. Mostly I came across sensationalized news reports, reactions, and opinions. The CDC's official article about drowning says it does not distinguish the annual reports of drowning deaths between "wet" and "dry" drowning.
For some other factual information about secondary drowning, read this summary from WebMD ( not my first choice in online sources, but the most reliable that I could find).
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