Parents warned of dangers of secondary drowning ahead of swim season
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KAMLOOPS —With the summer swimming season gearing up, parents are being reminded to keep close to little ones in rivers and lakes.
Anna Martin, Aquatics Coordinator with Kamloops YMCA, says lifejackets aren’t a 100 percent safety guarantee, adding new swimmers can suddenly flip onto their stomach and begin panicking.
“It takes some effort and skill to be able to swim in a lifejacket or float in a lifeacket and keep upwards,” said Martin. “Preventing an intake of water if they panic is crucial. If they’re under the age of five or six and they’re fairly new to lifejackets you want to be right there with them.”
Martin adds even a small amount of ingested water can lead to secondary drowning where fluid forms in the lungs causing a person to drown from the inside out.
