What Does a Drowning Person Look Like, and Why Do We Miss the Signs?

Last updated on: June 4, 2013 at 1:26 pm by Tim Suttle

What Does a Drowning Person Look Like, and Why Do We Miss the Signs? 2013-06-04T13:26:51-06:00 Tim Suttle

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I read a fascinating article on Slate today about how most people can look straight at a drowning person and not realize what is happening because they do not know the signs. The article starts with this story:

“The new captain jumped from the deck, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the couple swimming between their anchored sportfisher and the beach. “I think he thinks you’re drowning,” the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. “We’re fine; what is he doing?” she asked, a little annoyed. “We’re fine!” the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. ”Move!” he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not 10 feet away, their 9-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, “Daddy!”

Drowning is a pretty good metaphor for mission. How many people around us are drowning in their own lives. A neighbor, co-worker, family member, friend, or church member could be drowning right now and we are not aware of it. We cannot enter in and help because we don’t know the signs. How do we learn to see those who are drowning all around us; drowning in debt, a relational crisis, depression, mental illness, pain, fear, shame, regret, and addiction? I think that very often we direct our energy and focus toward people who are mostly splashing around, and miss the drowning people on the periphery. “Drowning” the article says, “is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect.”

To extend the metaphor – a lifeguard has been trained to spot the signs. The father and mother who were ten feet from their drowning daughter didn’t know the signs – they couldn’t see what was happening. Clergy, I think, mistakenly consider themselves to be life guards, but I don’t think that’s quite right. Hauerwas often says that ministry is not a helping profession. We are not psychologists, nurses, and doctors, or life guards. The clergy’s job is teaching other people to swim, and to see the signs that someone around them is drowning so they can take on the mission.

Mission is what we are all involved in clergy and laity alike, and it is like spotting the drowning people, coming around them, keeping their head above water, and helping them learn the movements that will keep them afloat. We learn those movements from Christ and each other. So one of the huge issues facing the church is the ability to spot a drowning victim. The article again:

There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the No. 2 cause of accidental death in children, ages 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents)—of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. According to the CDC, in 10 percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch the child do it, having no idea it is happening. Drowning does not look like drowning—

People are drowning all around us, but we do not know how to spot the signs. The list below is from a Coast Guard training magazine called On the Scene. It details why people can’t cry out for help:

“Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled before speech occurs.

Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.

Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.

Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.

From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.”

Numbers 1 -3 teach me this: most of the time a drowning person – drowning in debt, pain, etc. will not be able to tell you that it is happening. You are going to have to see the signs from other parts of their lives. Part of why they are drowning is that they cannot voice what is happening. Shame, fear, or just ignorance keeps them from being able to cry out for help. Number 4 teaches me to look for people who keep doing things that self-sabotage, acting in ways contrary to their own well being over and over again. These are the folks who are their own worst enemy. Number 5 teaches me that people who are drowning are upright and walking around, but they have no power base. Everything that needs to be happening beneath the surface of their lives isn’t happening. They may not have much time left. Here are the signs of a drowning victim listed in the article. I’m pondering this list today and looking at the ways in which this list might teach me to spot those people who are swimming nearby, barely keeping their heads above the water, in some cases already gasping and struggling to breath:

Head low in the water, mouth at water level

Head tilted back with mouth open

Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus

Eyes closed

Hair over forehead or eyes

Not using legs—vertical

Hyperventilating or gasping

Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway

Trying to roll over on the back

Appear to be climbing an invisible ladder

Previous Post

June 3, 2013

Monday Morning Confessional

Next Post

June 5, 2013 animate.Faith Does the Little Things Right

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion corruption Donald Trump elections Empire Entertainment Ezra Klein ideology Justice Lacan politics race Sports Ta-Nehisi Coates Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 March 2026 September 2025 March 2025 June 2024 January 2024 December 2023 May 2023 February 2023 October 2022 April 2022 March 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 September 2020 July 2020 June 2020 March 2020 September 2019 July 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 August 2010 July 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which disciple betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of sliver?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Andrew Judas Mary Magdalene Peter