The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-06-10

Is n AAfl- CHARLES ID. 81 I ILL.,
director. Greater New York Life Saving
service American Red Cross.
written for The Times and NEA service
through arrangement with Swimmer
Magazine
The average swimmer can do
many things in a drowning accident
IF he will only keep cool and think
clearly.
The logical and safe thing to do
is to swim out to a person who IS
drowning. conserving as much Of
YOUR energy as possible, and always
keeping before you the fact that
YOU have to carry that person back
to shore and that you will need a
great deal of strength.
Always keep your head up and
watch the one drowning. otherwise
he may go down and it will be i'm
possible for you to determine exact
" where he left the surface of the
water
When YOU get out to him do not
grasp hold at once. Stay four or
five feet away from him until you
are sure that he has exhausted him
self enough with his struggles so he
can not grasp hold of you. You can
then take him by the hair or by the
bathing suit and start to tow him
back to shore.
Keep Mouth Out of Water
Remember TO keep the drowning
persons mouth out of water as much
as possible, for if he is permitted to
breathe he will. Of course, be more
buoyant and will not be SO fright
ened.
Many times swimmers do get
caught in a So-called death grip"
which Immediately becomes a fall
acy. when you realize that the one
reason a drowning person graSpS
hold Of the rescUer is to climb on
top of them to get air. So that if
you are caught in grip by drown
ing person, do not use up all your
strength by battling him; just take
a good deep breath and go down.
In ninty-nine times out Of 100 you
will find that the drowning person
will let 60.
In the average drowning accident
one can usually find a chair or
plank or box, or something that
will float and help support the per-
son who is drowning or who is in
trouble
Cramps in the water seem to have
a terrible effect on the minds of the
public. Contrary to the general be-
lief, muscular cramps should not
put any one out of commission. For
instance. if you do get cramps in
both your arms at once, which is
unlikely to happen, you can turn
over on your back and get yourself
ashore with your legs. If you get
cramps in both Of your legs at one
time, it would be possible to keep
your affoat by just using your arms.
OF course, with a stomach cramp,
you are absolutely helpless.
ResuScitatiOn Method Shown
The most important phase OF life
saving is resuscitation, for if you
get some one of the water whose
breathing has stopped, and you do
nothing but lay them down and send
for an ambulance or a doctor, the
person may die before aid arrives.
Remember, that if you don't do
anything to start the breathing Of a
person whose breathing has stopped,
YOU might just as we'll throw them
back into the water until the doc
tor does come. Once the breathing
has stopped, it seldom will start
again with artificial stimulation.
The Schaefer prone pressure
method of reSuscitation, which is
the universally used, has its greater
value in the fact that it is very eff
cient and extremely simple. You
get the person out of the element
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