Nigeria has lost another undergraduate to the cold, wet hand of death.
About a year after some three students drowned in the River Benue, another has downed in the Okotie River.
He was the final year student of Delta State University, Precious Omordia, who passed on on Saturday afternoon when he went to swim in the river with three friends (a boy and two girls).
It was gathered that the deceased’s friends fled the scene of the incident without seeking help.
The young man’s corpse was said to have been taken to Agbor, where his father is based.
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What to do if a person is drowning (according to a BBC article)
– Try to wake the casualty. Give them a good shake, or even pinch their earlobe. If they don’t show any signs of consciousness…
– Lie them on their back and tilt their chin and head backwards to help clear their airway. This could be enough to get them to start breathing. Check if they’re breathing by leaning over them and placing your cheek near their mouth. LOOK along their chest as you do this to see if their chest is rising and falling, FEEL for breath on your cheek and LISTEN for breathing sounds. If there is no sign of breath then you should…
– Give them 5 rescue breaths. Pinch their nose and keep their head tilted back as you breathe into their mouth from yours, making as good a seal as you can with your mouth over theirs. Each breath you give them should last 1 second, and make sure that you take a good deep breath yourself in between each one. These breaths will get valuable oxygen into their lungs, which is particularly important in a drowned casualty. After you’ve done 5 rescue breaths try…
– CPR. Using both hands together, one on top of the other, push down right in the centre of their chest firmly, with your arms straight. Push down 5-6cm each time, twice a second (if it helps, try to do it to the rhythm of the song ‘Stayin’ Alive’ by the BeeGees as the beats in this are perfectly spaced for CPR). Do this for 1 minute (120 compressions).
– If you are on your own, then once you’ve done 5 rescue breaths and one minute of CPR you can take the time to call the emergency services. Hopefully you will have helped get some oxygen to their brain. But as soon as you have called for help, then continue:
30 chest compressions followed by 2 rescue breaths over and over again until they start breathing normally or help arrives (if there’s more than one of you then take it in turns).
