Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-04-04

assistance. if YOU are able 10 keep your
self above water.
There is an idea prevalent among some
people that the victim can place his
hands on your shoulders and you swim on
your back, using both arms and legs.
in the ordinary back strokes. In this
method the victim is pulled over facing
the water as you start to swim, with the
result that the short. choppy waves which
are caused from your progress through
the water catch him directly in the face.
At glance Ii can he seen where this
would be Objectionable as keeping the
water from his face is one Of the princi-
pal objects to be desired.
I'm releasing ones self from the clutches
Of drowning person three methods can
be used. the first one being where you
are grabbed around the wrists. The
thing to do is to innale strong, drop down
beneath the water. at the same time jerk
ing his hands downward with a quick
pull. turning the hands with the thumbs
toward each other, which causes his
arms to become supernatant, with the re-
suit that he has to let go. The minute
you are loose turn his body around so
that as you come up you are behind him.
when all you have to do is to catch him
method of towing as heretofore described
The second method in the release drill is
where you are grabbed around the neck
In this. as in the above method, the prin-
clpal thing to do is to keep a cool head
inhale hard and drop beneath the water.
placing one hand in the small of his back,
pulling him close to you and bringing
the other arm inside OF his arms pac-
ing the palm of the hand directly un-
derneath the chin. then give a hard push
up and back. at the same time pulling
hard with the hand that is In his back
This Will invariably break his hold The
rest OF the method is similar TO the first
method, turning him around while still
beneath the water and catching him under
the arm as you come to the top. The third
and last break is the most difficult OF the
three. This deals with where you are
srasped around the body with either
both hands clutched or only clutched with
one hand free The way to go about IL In
similar to the second break. Inhale hard.
botn arms. at the same time endeavorinS
TO get one arm behind him with the hand
in the small of his back. When the other
hand comes up inside his arm. grasp
him with the open hand around the throat
and then push hard with the top hand and
pull with the lower
This will usually cause him to let go,
and then you employ the same methods as
in the other breaks. coming up behind him
with the hand underneath his arm. Very
often he will release you without much
trouble If you sink beneath the water.
taking him along: and let me remind you
again that the safest plan ia to approach
him from the rear when he never has a
chance to grab you There need be no
fear that he will try TO turn around as
il is a positive fact that when a person
is drowning he does not know what he
is doing and makes attempt to grab
anything unless his hands come into con-
tact with some object. | have known
cases where small pieces of wood were
held tightly by the rescued person after
he has been brought ashore, which proves
that he probably came into contact with
the stick while struggling and uncon-
scously grabbed hold of it for support.
Diving is one of the most important
qualifications for good lite-saver, for a
mans ability to swim well would not be
of much use if he could not dive and swim
under water If the occasion ever arose
There arc several details OF life-sav.ng
that IL might he we'll 10 know. Whers
there is a very strong current IL natural
ly follows that you would not want TO dive
where the person went down. but trine
farther down the stream. making allow
ances for the distance that the current
would carr,s his body. Even then II IL
we'll to swim, UP against the current ana
meet the body as il is coming down. IN
other pIan sel TO remember under tho
same circumstances is that You can usual
" locate the body from the bubbles com
ing tn the surface. These are small things.
but very often prove to be valuable infor-
ma tion.'