Dry Drowning

summertime means swimming and that means lots of dry drowning questions for pediatricians dry drowning is not a real medical term when medical folks talk about submersion events we talk about either fatal drowning or non-fatal drowning and in those cases of non-fatal drowning after a significant submersion event so this is someone who was underwater for a while needed help coming back up lots of coughing and gasping and sputtering when they get taken out of the water a small subset of those folks can go on to have increased respiratory problems 4 to 8 hours later so we do want to monitor those folks and get them medical attention immediately if needed but again this is after a significant submersion event this does not happen days later and it does not happen after one or two coughs when your kiddo pops up after diving off the diving board or getting their face in the water for the first time as a young child it's after significant underwater events