Many Maritime children are involved in near-drowning experiences every summer, but just because they are out of the water, it doesn’t mean they are out of the woods.

Health officials say complications can occur up to two days after a water emergency.

“A water-related respiratory emergency is any time a person is in the water and struggling and has to be rescued, there is a chance they may have inhaled some water,” says Shauna Moulton, swimming and water safety representative for the Atlantic Canada branch of the Canadian Red Cross.

Secondary drowning is something the Red Cross wants all parents and caregivers to be aware of.

In a poll conducted by the Red Cross, one in five Canadian parents said they had rescued someone who was struggling in the water.

When a person is pulled out of the water the risk of drowning is removed, but the possibility for complications is not.

“Of all the drownings, or close-to drownings that we see, these late secondary drownings are less than five per cent, so one in 20 kids we see come in with anything significant going on because of secondary drowning, but it can happen up to 48 hours after the initial drowning episode,” says Dr. Erin Killorn, a physician at the IWK Health Centre. 

Killorn says in a near-drowning, water is aspirated into the lungs, setting in motion a physical response from the body.  

“So, the fluid is in the lungs and to the body, that’s a really abnormal thing, so you get inflammation of the lung tissue and then the body puts more fluid into that area because that’s the body’s response to something abnormal going on,” says Killorn.

After a close call, a child may seem perfectly fine, but symptoms can come on gradually over the course of a couple of days.

“You want to look for things such as shortness of breath, changes in colour, pale or clammy, and you also want to keep an eye on if they are out of sorts,” says Moulton.

Paul d’Eon, special projects director for the Lifesaving Society of Nova Scotia, says being smart about water safety is the best way to prevent both drownings and near-drownings.

“Swim where there’s a lifeguard, follow basic water safety rules,” says d’Eon. “If you have children at the beach, we say keep them within arm’s reach. Lying down on the beach doesn’t help when the toddler topples over into the water.”