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Pool season is back, and with it comes the usual advice about sunscreen, floaties and keeping an eye on the kids. Most of us assume that keeping an eye on the kids is enough, because we picture drowning the way films have taught us to, someone thrashing about and shouting for help. The truth is far quieter than that, and it is exactly why drowning is so often missed by people standing right there.

Why it never looks like the movies

Real drowning rarely involves splashing or shouting at all. What actually happens is known as the instinctive drowning response, and it is almost entirely involuntary. A person struggling to breathe cannot spare the breath needed to call out, because breathing always comes before speech. Their mouth dips below the surface and reappears again and again, never staying above the water long enough to shout. Their arms press down against the surface rather than waving, an automatic attempt to push their head up for air, which also means they cannot reach for a float or grab onto a rescuer. From the outside, it can look almost calm.

The quiet signs worth watching for

Instead of noise and movement, drowning tends to look like a head tipped back with the mouth barely above the water, or eyes that appear glassy, unfocused or closed. The body often stays upright in the water with the legs hanging still rather than kicking. Sometimes it looks like someone trying to climb an invisible ladder or trying to roll onto their back and not quite managing it. None of this looks urgent at first glance, which is exactly the problem.

How little time there actually is

Once this response begins, a person can only struggle this way for around 20 to 60 seconds before going under. For a small child, it can happen even faster. That window is short enough that a parent glancing at a phone for a moment, or simply looking away to answer a question, can miss the entire event.

Why South African families in particular need to know this

South Africa records close to 1 484 drownings every year, and children under 14 make up close to a third of them, with the youngest children at the highest risk of all. As pools fill up again this season, that risk climbs right along with the temperature.

What keeps children safe

The single most effective thing any family can do is assign one adult to watch the water, and nothing else, while children are swimming. Rescue organisations are direct about this, warning that adults distracted by their phones cannot properly supervise children in water at the same time, even for a few seconds.

A proper pool fence with a self-latching gate and covers or nets over smaller bodies of water like ponds, add another layer of protection for the moments supervision inevitably slips. Learning CPR is worth doing as well, since the first few minutes after a drowning are often the ones that matter most, long before paramedics can arrive.

If something does go wrong

If you ever notice a child or swimmer who has gone unusually still or quiet in the water, treat it as an emergency immediately rather than waiting to see if they are simply playing. Get them out of the water, call for help without delay, and begin CPR if they are not breathing. Having the iER app ready means that call for help happens the moment you need it, with your exact location sent straight to emergency responders while you focus on the person in front of you.

Pool season should be one of the easiest parts of a South African summer. Knowing what drowning actually looks like is what keeps it that way.