Health security

What you need to know about dry drowning

The Centers for Disease Control says more than 3,800 Americans drown every year. Only one to two percent of those are from dry or secondary drownings.

Once your child is done swimming or playing in the water, the risk of drowning is not over.

There's two types of drownings that can occur. The first is called secondary drowning.

"Water gets into the lungs during a submersion injury but the immediate injury and the symptoms aren't obvious at first," said Dr. Mathieu De Schutter, Pediatric Hospitalist at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center.

The other type is known as dry drowning which happens by breathing in water causing the vocal cords to spasm and close up. 

Both drownings can happen after simply getting water in your mouth or getting dunked.

"I mean it gave me the chills reading it. It's just something that I've never heard of and it's shocking," said Crystal Barajas, visiting Avila Beach.