Charleston Boy Dies of Secondary Drowning

The following articles refer to this incident as a "Dry Drowning". However, the symptoms described reflect those of a "Wet Drowning". Regardless, because of the delay in symptoms, we refer to this incident as a Secondary Drowning. ________________________ Charleston Boy Dies of 'Dry Drowning' Wednesday, Jun 04, 2008 - 10:30 AM Updated: 10:59 AM From NBC News Channel A mother in Charleston, S.C., is grieving the bizarre death of her 10-year-old boy. On Sunday, Johnny Jackson begged his mother to let him and his sister swim for the first time. After swimming, the family had a normal walk home with no signs of anything being wrong with the boy. About an hour after the swim, Johnny decided to take a nap. That's when the coroner says the pool water the 10-year-old ingested filled his lungs. "The fluid washes away the normal chemicals that hold the lungs open. The small airways of the lungs collapse and allow water to enter into the lungs causing difficulty breathing and difficulty exchanging oxygen and air,” says Dr. Jairy Hunter, Medical Director of the Trident Health System. The child's death is referred to in lay terms as a dry drowning. ____________ Johnny Jackson, a 10-year-old South Carolina boy died last weekend after he swallowed water from a swimming pool. The strange thing is that the boy died several hours after he swallowed the water. According to FoxNews, police said that the kid from Goose Creek had been swimming Sunday in a pool from his apartment complex and swallowed some water. His mother saw that Johnny inhaled a lot of water but, after getting out of the pool, the child seemed all right. Some time later the boy went to take a nap in his room because he was feeling sleepy. When someone went to check on him, the boy had water coming out of his nose and was breathing with difficulty. His mother called 911 and the boy was transported to Trident Hospital. Although doctors tried to save him, Johnny died of asphyxiation. Berkeley County Coroner Glenn Rhoad said that Johnny had his lungs filled with water, causing him to asphyxiate. Doctors said that the fourth-grader at Westview Elementary School drowned. According to FoxNews, not all cases of drowning happen immediately. There is secondary drowning as well, which can happen as much as 72 hours later, without any signs. There was no way that his family could have known what was happening. ________________________ Things You Should Know About Dry Drowning By Paige Tucker Augusta, GA -- The problem is not when you swallow water, but when you get it into your lungs...some people drown on the spot, but you can technically be a drowning victim, 24 hours out of the water. Sunshine and 95-degree temperatures are keeping things busy at local pools. At the Family Y, lifeguards are trying to keep all the little fish safe in the water. First things first: if you see someone having trouble, fighting to keep their head above water... Claudia Collins, Augusta Family Y Lifeguard Instructor: "Get them out of the water, get them calmed down, get them able to breathe well, and not have any problems." If you do notice breathing problems, be aware. Just because they didn't drown, doesn't mean they're out of danger. Claudia Collins: "If a child has an event while they're in the water, they're gasping, coughing, difficulty breathing, they tell you they're short of breath, that's probably somebody that's aspirated water." Even then, the child could be okay, but after what's called a near-drowning event, pay close attention to the child. Dr. James Wilde, MCG Emergency Medecine: "If the child's complaining of difficulty breathing as you're going home, being sleepy...those are the symptoms of a near-drowning. That patient needs to be taken right to the hospital. That person needs to be monitored and may need to be put on a ventilator in case their breathing gets worse." Dr. James Wilde says parents should not think swallowing a bunch of water is going to harm their child in the same way as a near-drowning event...which can be fatal hours after the child leaves the water. Dr. Wilde: "Initial drowning event damages the lungs and then, in response, the lungs fill up with fluid and that's what event can kill you if you don't get medical attention." Dr. Wilde has treated a patient before who was the victim of a near-drowning, and initially checked out okay. But, 2 hours later, still at the hospital, her condition drastically dropped. She survived, but without that medical treatment, could have become a drowning victim, herself. Dehydrating in the water is more common during the summer...sounds unlikely, but experts say you lose 6 ounces of water every hour you're in the water. ________________________ U.S. & World Newsrss Boy, 10, drowns while napping Thursday, June 05, 2008 | 10:21 AM ABCNews By EMILY FRIEDMAN June 5, 2008 -- As Cassandra Jackson watched her 10-year-old son Johnny splash around in their neighborhood pool last week, she had no reason to believe anything was wrong -- let alone that her son was slowly drowning. "He seemed to be fine," Jackson, 41, told ABCNEWS.com from her home in Goose Creek, S.C. "I noticed nothing out of the ordinary, other than him taking a little bit of water in and coughing and then calming down." Jackson estimated that Johnny had been in the pool for 45 minutes and had been wearing floatation devices on each arm, in addition to being monitored by an adult in the pool, as well as herself and a friend watching from pool chairs nearby. But less than two hours after getting out of the pool, Johnny had defecated in his pants twice and was complaining of being tired. After being bathed and dressing himself, Johnny walked to his bed unaided, leading his mother to believe that he was simply tired from playing in the water. But shortly after leaving him to nap, Jackson discovered her son unconscious and his face covered in a foam-like substance. "My friend went back into the room where Johnny was sleeping and noticed what appeared to be cotton balls stuffed in his nose," Jackson said of what turned out to be the foam from his nose and mouth. "She asked if I put them there and I said no -- I went in and saw him and screamed for help. "I rolled him over and his body was very limp and I realized he'd soiled himself again and was very purplish-blue looking," said Jackson, who then called 9-1-1. "His tongue was really swollen, too." Johnny suffered from cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital, his mother said, and was pronounced dead upon arrival. Berkeley County Coroner Glenn Rhoad examined Johnny's body after the incident and told ABCNEWS.com that the preliminary autopsy showed the cause of death was asphyxiation due to drowning. Rhoad added that the boy had a lot of water in his lungs. While Johnny had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and autism, there is no reason to believe that either condition had anything to do with his death, the coroner said. How Johnny managed to walk out of the pool and into his bed, communicating with his mother along the way, seems mysterious -- but doctors said Johnny may have suffered from a sort of secondary drowning or near drowning, as some refer to it. What Happened to Johnny? "With primary drowning, you inhale water and you can't breathe and you die right away," said Stephen Epstein, a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians. "But with secondary drowning, you die because of a secondary injury to the lung caused by a small amount of the water getting into the lung." Johnny would have only had to inhale four ounces of water -- about six teaspoons -- to drown, and even less to injure his lung enough to become a victim of secondary drowning, Epstein said. "Depending on what's in the fluid, it can have numerous effects on the lung," said Epstein, who practices at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "One of the things that keeps the breathing bubbles in your lungs -- alveoli -- open is a chemical called surfactant, which can get diluted [when fluid enters the lungs]." What results when the surfactant is diluted and the lung is not working properly, said Epstein, is that the body's natural reactor kicks in and sends other fluids from your body to help -- flooding your lungs with fluids. "Sometimes the body has a natural reaction that is not helpful," Epstein said of this phenomenon. "The fluid comes out of your blood stream and invades the lung, and then we have a lot of fluid inside the lung, leaving no room for the air. "Then you have pulmonary edema," said Epstein. Pulmonary edema, or the accumulation of fluid in the lungs, Epstein explained, can later result in cardiac arrest, as oxygen is prevented from getting into the blood stream and eventually stops the heart from beating. Johnny's death may have also been a result of the chlorine in the pool water, Epstein said. "The concentration of the water [Johnny swallowed] could have caused a lot of inflammation in the lung," Epstein said. "And then, the body's reaction to inflammation is to send in all sorts of fluids to fight it -- and with that, your lungs are filled with fluid." Parents Must Monitor Swimming Children Closely Water safety experts advise parents to keep a constant eye on their playing children, and be aware of complaints of difficultly breathing. "People -- especially children -- need to be supervised around the water with vigilance, even if there are lifeguards present," said Gerald Dworkin, a water safety expert, who has developed safety training programs since 1984 for Life Saving Resources. "Anyone who has been submerged and has aspirated should seek medical attention." The Centers for Disease Control estimates there were 3,582 fatal unintentional drownings in the United States in 2005, the most recent year for which data is available, and more than one in four drownings are children, 14 and younger. The CDC does not keep statistics on the number of secondary drownings. Jackson says she is certain there is nothing she could have done to prevent her son's death, but hopes that, by sharing her story, other parents looking ahead to a summer filled with swimming, will be more cautious. "If your child comes out of the pool and seems sleepy or lethargic, watch them very, very closely," Jackson said. "Rush them to the hospital or call 9-1-1 immediately." "It's better to be safe than sorry." (Copyright ©2008 ABC News Internet Ventures.) ________________________ Did Little Johnny Drown During His Nap? As Cassandra Jackson watched her 10-year-old son Johnny splash around in their neighborhood pool last week, she had no reason to believe anything was wrong -- let alone that her son was slowly drowning. "He seemed to be fine," Jackson, 41, told ABCNEWS.com from her home in Goose Creek, S.C. "I noticed nothing out of the ordinary, other than him taking a little bit of water in and coughing and then calming down." Jackson estimated that Johnny had been in the pool for 45 minutes and had been wearing floatation devices on each arm, in addition to being monitored by an adult in the pool, as well as herself and a friend watching from pool chairs nearby. But less than two hours after getting out of the pool, Johnny had defecated in his pants twice and was complaining of being tired. After being bathed and dressing himself, Johnny walked to his bed unaided, leading his mother to believe that he was simply tired from playing in the water. But shortly after leaving him to nap, Jackson discovered her son unconscious and his face covered in a foam-like substance. "My friend went back into the room where Johnny was sleeping and noticed what appeared to be cotton balls stuffed in his nose," Jackson said of what turned out to be the foam from his nose and mouth. "She asked if I put them there and I said no -- I went in and saw him and screamed for help. "I rolled him over and his body was very limp and I realized he'd soiled himself again and was very purplish-blue looking," said Jackson, who then called 9-1-1. "His tongue was really swollen, too." Johnny suffered from cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital, his mother said, and was pronounced dead upon arrival. Berkeley County Coroner Glenn Rhoad examined Johnny's body after the incident and told ABCNEWS.com that the preliminary autopsy showed the cause of death was asphyxiation due to drowning. Rhoad added that the boy had a lot of water in his lungs. While Johnny had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and autism, there is no reason to believe that either condition had anything to do with his death, the coroner said. How Johnny managed to walk out of the pool and into his bed, communicating with his mother along the way, seems mysterious -- but doctors said Johnny may have suffered from a sort of secondary drowning or near drowning, as some refer to it. What Happened to Johnny? "With primary drowning, you inhale water and you can't breathe and you die right away," said Stephen Epstein, a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians. "But with secondary drowning, you die because of a secondary injury to the lung caused by a small amount of the water getting into the lung." Johnny would have only had to inhale four ounces of water to drown, and even less to injure his lung enough to become a victim of secondary drowning, Epstein said. "Depending on what's in the fluid, it can have numerous effects on the lung," said Epstein, who practices at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "One of the things that keeps the breathing bubbles in your lungs -- alveoli -- open is a chemical called surfactant, which can get diluted [when fluid enters the lungs]." What results when the surfactant is diluted and the lung is not working properly, said Epstein, is that the body's natural reactor kicks in and sends other fluids from your body to help -- flooding your lungs with fluids. "Sometimes the body has a natural reaction that is not helpful," Epstein said of this phenomenon. "The fluid comes out of your blood stream and invades the lung, and then we have a lot of fluid inside the lung, leaving no room for the air. "Then you have pulmonary edema," said Epstein. Pulmonary edema, or the accumulation of fluid in the lungs, Epstein explained, can later result in cardiac arrest, as oxygen is prevented from getting into the blood stream and eventually stops the heart from beating. Johnny's death may have also been a result of the chlorine in the pool water, Epstein said. "The concentration of the water [Johnny swallowed] could have caused a lot of inflammation in the lung," Epstein said. "And then, the body's reaction to inflammation is to send in all sorts of fluids to fight it -- and with that, your lungs are filled with fluid." Parents Must Monitor Swimming Children Closely Water safety experts advise parents to keep a constant eye on their playing children, and be aware of complaints of difficulty breathing. "People -- especially children -- need to be supervised around the water with vigilance, even if there are lifeguards present," said Gerald Dworkin, a water safety expert, who has developed safety training programs since 1984 for Life Saving Resources. "Anyone who has been submerged and has aspirated should seek medical attention." The Centers for Disease Control estimates there were 3,582 fatal unintentional drownings in the United States in 2005, the most recent year for which data is available, and more than one in four drownings are children, 14 and younger. The CDC does not keep statistics on the number of secondary drownings. Jackson says she is certain there is nothing she could have done to prevent her son's death, but hopes that, by sharing her story, other parents looking ahead to a summer filled with swimming, will be more cautious. "If your child comes out of the pool and seems sleepy or lethargic, watch them very, very closely," Jackson said. "Rush them to the hospital or call 9-1-1 immediately." "It's better to be safe than sorry." http://community.livejournal.com/blackfolk/6224769.html