General information
In Germany many small children die each year by drowning. Most of the time, the children fall unattended into small garden ponds or swimming pools. Two factors represent a serious situation: the time spent under water causes a lack of oxygen, which results on the one hand from the child’s reduced breathing and on the other hand from the inhaled water and the resulting reduction in the capacity of the lungs.
On the other hand, hypothermia, which occurs much faster in small children and is much more dangerous than in adults. As soon as the child is rescued, the cardiovascular situation must be restored and the hypothermia must be reversed by warm blankets etc. It is important that rewarming takes place slowly and should not be attempted e.g. by a hot bath.
This can lead to a fatal cardiac arrest, as cold blood lying in the periphery is led to the heart and can cause the heart to stop. Warming blankets and emergency foils are a safe measure to reheat the hypothermic body by its own heat. The cardiovascular situation must be restored by artificial respiration and cardiac massage/resuscitation, possibly also by defibrillation. However, due to the time elapsed, many children die after drowning accidents (of 1840 accidents in Germany per year, 800 children die).
