Submersion Injury / Drowning

Drowning is the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion or immersion in liquid. The outcome may be fatal or non-fatal; “near drowning,” “dry drowning,” and “secondary drowning” are not separate diagnoses and can distract from the patient’s actual respiratory and neurological status. The first question is not how long the patient was underwater or whether the water was fresh or salt water. It is whether the patient can oxygenate, ventilate, and protect the airway now. A person who is talking normally and has no respiratory symptoms is clinically different from one who is coughing, hypoxaemic, confused, or tiring, even if both were removed from the water at the same time.