What to do if someone is drowning at a Barbados beach

Real drowning almost never looks like the movies. There is no waving, no shouting for help. Instead you'll usually see someone vertical in the water, head tilted back, mouth at surface level, eyes glassy. They have somewhere between 20 and 60 seconds of surface time before they slip under.

The four things a bystander does

1. Shout for help and point. Get a lifeguard's attention if there is one — Bathsheba, Miami Beach, Carlisle Bay, Accra and several other beaches are patrolled. Send a second person to call 511 (ambulance) immediately.
2. Reach or throw, don't go. Untrained rescuers who swim out to a panicking drowning victim are the second most common victim of a drowning incident. Reach with anything long — a paddle, a stick, a towel. Throw anything that floats — a cooler lid, a boogie board, a life ring.
3. Get them onto the beach. Support the head and neck. If you suspect they've hit their head (jet ski, diving into shallow water), keep the head in-line with the spine.
4. Start CPR if they're not breathing normally. Push hard, push fast, in the centre of the chest — about two per second. If you're trained, add rescue breaths. If you're not, hands-only CPR is still hugely effective. Don't stop until an ambulance arrives or the person starts breathing on their own.

Water in the lungs

Old advice said to "get the water out" first. That's out of date. In a drowning victim, the amount of water actually in the lungs is small, and every second spent trying to expel it delays the compressions that keep oxygen moving to the brain. Chest compressions first, always.

After a "near-drowning"

Someone who has been submerged and then seems fine should still be assessed by a doctor. Secondary drowning — where inhaled water causes lung inflammation hours later — is rare but real. Better to be checked and cleared than to send someone home who deteriorates that night.

The best thing you can do before it happens

Learn the technique. Every one of our first aid courses covers drowning response, in-water rescue basics, and CPR on wet, sandy patients — because that's the real Caribbean scenario. Two hours of practice will make you the person who acts instead of the person who freezes.