It shocks me that we use to go to wave pools like these for elementary school trips. They never even asked us if we could swim or not. I was at least a passable swimmer, but even so, it was so crowded that I remember a couple times getting stuck under the water briefly trying to find my way up between all the feet and inner tubes.
As a summer lifeguard when I was younger, I agree with the premise - drowning doesn't look it. Each time I encountered it the key was someone simply staring at me - they don't raise their hands or call for help. It even happened once in my own home swimming pool when a pre-teen got in over his head. His parents definitely didn't notice. Except the very first time when I went over to see what the problem was I now extend a cleaning net to them - they grab on very fast and tightly.
http://spotthedrowningchild.com/
1st video is ~1minute long and puts you in the right mindset.
It shocks me that we use to go to wave pools like these for elementary school trips. They never even asked us if we could swim or not. I was at least a passable swimmer, but even so, it was so crowded that I remember a couple times getting stuck under the water briefly trying to find my way up between all the feet and inner tubes.
Wait
TFA is like 90% a copy of whatever the PDF is on this website. It just prefixes it with a small story
Yeah it's public domain, originally https://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/
As a summer lifeguard when I was younger, I agree with the premise - drowning doesn't look it. Each time I encountered it the key was someone simply staring at me - they don't raise their hands or call for help. It even happened once in my own home swimming pool when a pre-teen got in over his head. His parents definitely didn't notice. Except the very first time when I went over to see what the problem was I now extend a cleaning net to them - they grab on very fast and tightly.
That last line, "children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out why."
fills me with dread.