Drowning Terms to Discontinue

Near Drowning – Drowning is a major global public health problem. Effective prevention of drowning requires programs and policies that address known risk factors throughout the world. Surveillance, however, has been hampered by the lack of a uniform and internationally accepted definition that permits all relevant cases to be counted.  The new definition should include both cases of nonfatal and fatal drowning. The following definition was adopted by the World Health Organization: “Drowning is the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion/immersion in liquid.”

Drowning has one of three outcomes:

1. Nonfatal;
2. Nonfatal with injury (usually brain injury);
3. Fatal

Consider that you’ve never had a ‘near car accident’. 

Rip Tide – Rip currents have nothing to do with the tide (and the Great Lakes do not have a tidal flow like oceans). When wind and waves push water toward the shore, that water is often forced sideways by the oncoming waves. This water streams along the shoreline until it finds an exit back to the sea or open lake water. The resulting rip current is usually narrow and located in a trench between sandbars, under piers or along jetties.

Undertow – A common misconception is that rip currents are strong enough to pull someone under the surface of the water; in reality the current is strongest at the surface.

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The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, Inc. (GLSRP) is about saving lives.  It is a nonprofit corporation that is a Chapter of the National Drowning Prevention Alliance (NDPA) that tracks drowning statistics, teaches “Water Safety Surf Rescue” classes, and leads the “Third Coast Ocean Force” rip current awareness campaign on the Great Lakes.

It has been selected to present at the 2nd International Rip Current Symposium Nov. 1st, 2012 in Sydney, Australia; the 2012 winner of the “Outstanding Service to the Great Lakes Community” award presented by the Dairyland Surf Classic; the 2011 “Lifesaver of the Year” award winner; and a presenter at the NDPA’s 11^th Annual Symposium in San Diego, March 9, 2012.