Awareness Campaign Warns of Dangers of Shallow Water Blackout [1]

Following the tragic death of 12 year old Jack MacMilan in 2013, Gary and Sharon Washbourne established Shallow Water Blackout Australia - with the aim of raising awareness of the risks associated with breath holding in swimming pools and to call for related signage at public and private pools across Australia.

Shallow water blackout (SWB) can be caused by repetitive, competitive or continuous breath holding or by taking several very deep breaths, or hyperventilating, just before diving underwater. Swimmers pass out due to the lack of oxygen (O2) and lower than normal carbon dioxide (CO2) levels of which the CO2 levels do not increase high enough to trigger the urgent need to breathe, resulting in unconsciousness. Once unconscious, water quickly fills the swimmers lungs with death or brain damage occurring much sooner than the usual form of drowning.

Dr. Tom Griffiths, President and founder of Aquatic Safety Research Group, LLC explains “since World War II, breath-holding and hypoxic training have been an integral part of working out in the water whether for military training, competitive swimming, triathlons or some other competitive aquatic activity.

“While the benefits of breath-holding and hypoxic training in the water have yet to be proven, the risks have certainly been brought to the forefront. Extreme breath-holding and hypoxic training conducted in swimming pools have led to a significant number of unconsciousness, drowning, and sudden death victims due to cardiac arrest.

“As sports like triathlons continue to grow, so will an increasing number of shallow water blackout tragedies, unless athletes understand the hazards.”

In establishing Shallow Water Blackout Australia, Gary and Sharon Washbourne (Jack MacMillan’s uncle and aunt) have sought to lobby the Federal Government to raise awareness of shallow water blackout so that further deaths can be avoided.

While Royal Life Saving Society - Australia report that their records show only five cases of shallow water blackout causing drawings in the past 10 years, Chief Executive Justin Scarr believes that many incidences go unreported.

Scarr recently told the ABC “we do believe that there are several other cases that may in fact not appear on our drowning database.

"The reason for this is that if the drowning is unwitnessed, the coroner may be reluctant to make a specific finding that cites shallow water blackout.”

Gary and Sharon Washbourne will be addressing the issue of shallow water blackout at the upcoming Aquatic and Recreation Institute (ARI) 50th Annual Conference at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on Thursday 29th May.

Commenting on the issue, Sharon Washbourne states “if I know that I can save one life let alone a thousand it would help in Jack's legacy to keep the awareness going and it helps us remember him.”

[1] Aloha Consulting wish to acknowledge the Australian Leisure Management for permission to reproduce this article. For more information, please visit: http://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/awareness-campaign-warns-of-dangers-of-shallow-water-blackouts