6. Know how to identify swimmers in need.

6. Know how to identify swimmers in need.

Photo: glennster

It’s a fact: Drowning is the number one cause of unintentional deaths worldwide (It’snumber five in the U.S.), and a person can drown in as little as two inches of water. While we tend to think that swimmers in trouble will be waving their hands and making lots of noise, this may not always be the case. In fact, drowning is normallypretty quiet. Watch out for people whose heads are low in the water (mouth submerged) or tilted back with mouth open, eyes closed or unable to focus, legs vertical in the water, or who are trying to swim but not making progress.