Treatment of a near-drowning person

Extract

• This article is written in Finland where, due to the low salinity of the brackish sea, the submersion incidents practically always occur in freshwater and are treated accordingly. Consequently, not all aspects relevant for submersion incidents in sea water with higher salinity are covered.
• It is of primary importance to ensure a patent airway and to provide effective ventilation and oxygenation.
• After ensuring a patent airway and, if needed, 5 initial breaths, normal closed chest massage should be started (see Treatment of cardiac arrest in primary health care1). Only then should the electrical heart activity be examined.
  • In a lifeless, near-drowned person, the initial heart rhythm is usually non-defibrillatable (asystole or pulseless electrical activity (PEA) and there is no need for defibrillation).
  • If there is a defibrillatable rhythm, it may, for example, be due to an arrhythmia that caused the near-drowning.

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Diver, Diving, Drowned, Drowning, Near-drowning, Resuscitation, T75.1, Treatment of drowning, W68, W69, W71, W90.0, W90.3, W90.8, X71, defibrillation, oxygenation, ventilation