On December 15, Dr. Dinh Tan Phuong - Head of the Emergency Department of Children's Hospital 1 (HCMC) said that over the past month, the unit has recorded 2 children dying from drowning, both occurring in a swimming pool with low water levels, rescue staff and supervisors.
The latest case was a 7-year-old girl (HCMC) participating in a school picnic in a tourist area. According to the teacher and staff of the tourist area, at noon on December 13, children and their friends went down to the swimming pool with a water level of only about 0.5 m, with rescue staff standing on the shore to supervise. After that, a friend discovered the child drowning in the water.
Rescue workers performed resuscitation, took him to the clinic, then transferred him to the hospital in Cu Chi. Here, children had cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest, intubation, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and multiple adrenalin injections. After about 30 minutes, the child's heart beat again and he was transferred to Children's Hospital 1.
When admitted to the hospital, the child fell into a deep coma, had to exhale on a ventilator and use the maximum dosage of vasopressor. Tests showed severe multiple organ damage due to prolonged lack of oxygen. Despite being actively resuscitated, the condition did not improve and the child died less than 48 hours after treatment.
The second case is a 12-year-old boy (HCMC) who also died from drowning in a swimming pool while learning to swim. The child was found submerged in water, had a cardiac arrest, suffocated on the spot and was transferred to many medical facilities.
The child's heart beat again after more than 1 hour of resuscitation, then transferred to Children's Hospital 1. Despite active treatment, the child still did not survive after many days of treatment.
According to Dr. Phuong, the golden time for drowning emergency care is very short. Heart arrest, respiratory arrest after 4 minutes has begun to cause brain damage, after 10 minutes the risk of death or irreversible sequelae is very high.
When meeting a drowning child, the top priority is to apply cardiopulmonary juice and suffocate on the spot. Not drinking water is worth saving lives, even taking away your golden time.
Doctor Phuong recommends teaching children swimming skills and self-drowning skills; children with a history of diseases such as eczema should avoid participating in swimming activities.
At the same time, strengthen training on emergency skills for rescue staff and accompanying teachers. Considering regulations on installing cameras at swimming pools to increase supervision and clarify the causes of incidents.
