Drowning: A peaceful way to go?

[RonFrank]

So, what ecaxtly was your 2nd choice?

Having Sex while diving! What a silly question.

 

[shakeybrainsurgeon]

For any one who is interested, the excellent book "A Perfect Storm" has an extensive chapter about drowning, including a discussion of the physiology of drowning, interviews with near-drowning victims and a minute by minute account of what it might feel like...scary.

About ten years ago, I reviewed a book for either the Washington Post or the NY Times about the history of CPR and resuscitation (the name of the book escapes me). The author made an interesting point: we now associate resuscitation with cardiac disease but, in fact, the early rescue technology was concerned with drowning. In the period 1700 -1900 in this country, drowning was the leading cause of accidental death. Why? Well, there were no autos or less heavy factory/farm equipment to kill people and, although we used the waterways extensively, no one knew how to swim! No red cross or ymca courses (in fact, sailors considered it bad luck to know how to swim and avoided learning). Besides, if some old coot clutched his chest and died, that was to be expected, no one gave two seconds thought to resuscitating him until the mid-20th century.

Early methods included a) using fireplace bellows to flush air into the lungs and b) piping hot tobacco smoke into the colon as a cardiac stimulant (yes, that's where we get "blow smoke up the ...") The mainstay of manual resuscitation ---the old YMCA push on the back, pull up on the arms --- was used until the late 1950s and 1960s, when Peter Safar showed that it moved no air at all! (he paralyzed normal college students with curare and then did various resuscitation techniques on their apneic bodies while following their oxygen levels --- the lawyers would NEVER allow such dangerous experiments to be done today). Safar showed that mouth-mouth breathing could keep a person oxygenated indefinitely --- a technique first used hundreds of years earlier. The first use of this technique, combined with chest compression, in a hospital setting was by one of my old mentors, the late Hank Bahnson.

 

[Doc Harry]

I think most experiences of dying, even the traumatic ones, would all be very peaceful in the terminal moments. The feeling of slipping away is actually quite beautiful and comforting....

I can't imagine that in a world where almost everything is eaten by something else that our Maker would make it an emotionally traumatic experience. How unmerciful that would be. And this is coming from someone who is not religious.

 

[Gary D.]

The year isn't over for us yet but our first drowing suicide was last Christmas Day. Then we had two more that were suicides. ALL three were in water less than 15 feet deep and one was in 6'.

Over the years I would say at least 20+ of my recoveries were suicides by drowning. The bulk of those left clues or notes as to their intention. None of them resulted in a fight to survive.

Gary D.

 

[Tigerman]

I think most experiences of dying, even the traumatic ones, would all be very peaceful in the terminal moments. The feeling of slipping away is actually quite beautiful and comforting....

I can't imagine that in a world where almost everything is eaten by something else that our Maker would make it an emotionally traumatic experience. How unmerciful that would be. And this is coming from someone who is not religious.

I believe in religion.. I believe in how religion is important for many people as a way of comfort and other things. Im not what you call an "christian" but I have grown up with values based on christianity. I have also read parts of the bible, and "merciful" aint exactly the word id use for a lot of the sections there

Anyways, Ive had an incident that people describe as a "near death experience". I was in the hospital with meningitis and already when I was sent by the ambulance I was unable to speak and barely concious.
At the hospital I find myself sitting up in the corner, under the ceiling, looking down at myself lying in the bed. That was quite peacful..
It was also really WEIRD of course..

 

[Jasonmh]

I would have to say "not peaceful". My wife drowned when she was younger, and she remembers every second of it. She said it was very terrifying and very painful at first. She remembers having a very small amount of peace right before she blacked out when she knew that she was going to die, but 99% of the ordeal was as far from peaceful as you could imagine. A family member pulled her out with no breathing/no pulse, gave her CPR to to the hospital, etc. She barely made it, but thankfully she did. It was such as ordeal that even 30 years later she cannot bring herself to put her head all the way under water when snorkeling.

 

[fabasard]

As was posted in this thread earlier, and by me in a different thread, Narcosis + drowning seems to be the way to go IF your going to drown. I had stated that if I had a terminal illness and had 2 weeks to live I would get a FAT insurance policy on me against SCUBA related accidents specifically, then go diving get over a DEEP chasm, next to a reef of course, gotta make it LOOK accidental, then go DEEP wait for narcing to set in then drift off to sleep, The body is not recovered (no burial expense), the sharks and fishes get a free meal and my family gets a nice settlement. I say GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT. Sleep well my companions.

 

[KMD]

As was posted in this thread earlier, and by me in a different thread, Narcosis + drowning seems to be the way to go IF your going to drown. I had stated that if I had a terminal illness and had 2 weeks to live I would get a FAT insurance policy on me against SCUBA related accidents specifically, then go diving get over a DEEP chasm, next to a reef of course, gotta make it LOOK accidental, then go DEEP wait for narcing to set in then drift off to sleep, The body is not recovered (no burial expense), the sharks and fishes get a free meal and my family gets a nice settlement. I say GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT. Sleep well my companions.

Unless you get a dark narc where you feel the walls closing in on you, night terrors behind you, and your last gasp of air is spent screaming 'cause your nitrogen addled brain is telling you the boogey man is behind you.

But on a positive note, your family gets no closure as they dont know what happend to you, no nice cerimony to say good by to a loved one and no money as the insurance agency fights them in court to avoid payment.

 

[Cacia]

Nitrogen narcosis, then drowning, yes. Just plain old drowning not much better than suffocating. If you are drowning, dive deeper (if you can't get out of course).

...very nice.

 

[fabasard]

Unless you get a dark narc where you feel the walls closing in on you, night terrors behind you, and your last gasp of air is spent screaming 'cause your nitrogen addled brain is telling you the boogey man is behind you.

But on a positive note, your family gets no closure as they dont know what happend to you, no nice cerimony to say good by to a loved one and no money as the insurance agency fights them in court to avoid payment.

You really know how to kill a mans dream don't you? Come on I'M MARRIED let me at least DIE happy....ROFL