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My child was pulled from the water - drowning and near-drowning first aid

Emergency numbers: 108 ambulance · 112 national emergency · Poison centre (AIIMS, 24x7): 1800-116-117

Quick answer: Get your child out of the water as fast as is safely possible - reach or throw something rather than jumping in if that puts you at risk. If your child is not breathing normally or is not conscious, treat it as a cardiac arrest: start CPR immediately with rescue breaths AND chest compressions, and call 108. Any child who needed any kind of resuscitation - even only rescue breaths - must be checked in hospital.

🟢 GREEN - You can usually watch at home when

  • Only for a trivial dunking: your child went under briefly, coughed a little, and is immediately and completely back to normal - breathing, talking, playing.
  • Even then, watch closely for the rest of the day and call your paediatrician if any coughing, breathlessness or unusual tiredness appears.

🟡 YELLOW - Call your paediatrician today if

  • Your child swallowed or inhaled water but recovered fully and quickly on their own - your doctor will decide whether an examination is needed.
  • Any cough, fast breathing, vomiting or unusual sleepiness in the hours after a water incident.

🔴 RED - Call 108 NOW and start first aid if

  • Your child is not breathing normally or cannot be woken after coming out of the water - start CPR immediately, with rescue breaths as well as chest compressions. Breath matters most in drowning: if you cannot or will not give breaths, do chest compressions until help arrives.
  • Your child needed any help to breathe, even briefly.
  • Your child is breathing but blue, coughing persistently, foamy at the mouth, confused or very drowsy.

🆘 SOS - What to do right now, step by step

  • Get the child out safely. Reach with an arm, stick, rope or anything that floats. Do not become the second person in trouble.
  • Lift an unconscious child out roughly horizontal, with the head kept above the body and the airway open; a conscious child can come out more upright to reduce vomiting.
  • If your child is breathing, lay them on their side, keep them warm, and wait for help.
  • If they are not breathing normally, start CPR at once if you know how - breaths plus compressions - and do not stop until help takes over or your child clearly revives.
  • If an AED (defibrillator) is available, send someone for it and use it - but never delay CPR to fetch it.

❌ DO NOT

  • Do not waste time trying to drain water out of the lungs - no hanging upside down, no pressing the stomach, no finger sweeps. Start CPR.
  • Do not delay calling 108 or starting CPR while you check the pulse for a long time - if your child is not breathing normally and not responding, start.
  • Do not assume a child who seems recovered is safe - any child who needed help to breathe must be seen in hospital.
  • Do not leave a child alone near water afterwards, and do not let a shaken child go back into the water.

What is happening and why

Drowning starves the brain of oxygen within minutes, and the heart slows because of that lack of oxygen - which is why rescue breaths are the critical part of drowning CPR, unlike most adult heart arrests where compressions alone suffice. The 2024 joint guidance from the AAP and the American Heart Association makes this explicit: start CPR immediately, include breaths, and hospital-check everyone who needed resuscitation.

Most toddler drownings happen silently, in buckets, bathtubs and small home pools, in the seconds a parent looks away - touch-supervision within arm's reach is the real prevention.

This page is for first-aid education and does not replace examination by a doctor. In an emergency, call 108 or 112.

Sources (last checked 13 Sep 2026)

Approved for publication by Dr Anjana Alekhya, MD (Paediatrics) · Based only on AAP/IAP guidance · Published 13 September 2026