2023-07-30 08:27:00
Written by Amal Allam Sunday, July 30, 2023 11:27 AM
Dr. Heba Youssef, Professor and Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at Port Said Medicine, revealed, in an exclusive statement to “The Seventh Day”, that drowning is suffocation resulting from the lack of oxygen in the blood to the vital centers of the brain for a period of 3 minutes or more, which leads to damage. Permanent damage to brain cells and death, especially the centers of respiration, the circulatory system and the heart.
Heba Youssef said that drowning asphyxia is a failure in breathing functions as a result of the presence of external breathing holes under water for more than 3 minutes, which leads to suffocation and the entry of water into the lungs, heart and blood, then it reaches all organs in the body, and when the corpse comes out of the water it is characterized by the presence of foam. From the nose and mouth, due to the presence of the substance “surfactant” in the lungs and the mixing of air with the alveoli with water, and 95% of the causes of death are hypoxia, that is, the lack of oxygen to the brain.
The professor of forensic medicine explained that drowning may be in fresh or salty water or any liquid in any cavernous place, noting that drowning in fresh water is faster than salt water for several reasons, the most important of which is: because in fresh water half a percent of chloride salts “salt” is present. It enters the lungs and the pulmonary circulation, including the alveoli, and some of the capillaries in the lung, which leads to the breaking of red blood cells, and helps to increase the level of potassium in the blood, and the level of salt decreases, which leads to the fluctuation of the heart’s electricity, and the heart stops, especially when the fresh water is very cold. From 10 degrees Celsius, which is a measure of temperature, which leads to sudden cardiac arrest.
As for Drowning In salty water, such as sea water, the percentage of salt in the blood or sodium chloride is 3% or more, which leads to infiltration in the lungs or pulmonary edema, and an increase in blood viscosity resulting from an increase in salts in the blood plasma. to 12 minutes, which allows giving an opportunity to save the person who has been drowned, while drowning resulting from fresh water is only 4 to 5 minutes, which does not give an opportunity to save the person who has been drowned, especially since death occurs suddenly as a result of sudden cardiac arrest.
And she pointed out that it is one of the most signs that we can diagnose a person who has been drowned, as there are confirmed external signs, which is the exit of white foam from the nose and mouth, and it can be sweaty with blood, and its quantities are very large, and it has no smell and appears when pressing on the chest of the deceased, explaining that the sign The second is the pressure of the drowning person on his palm strongly during drowning, because he was exposed to severe nervous tension during drowning, so he tries to cling to anything around him, and finds nothing but water, silt, gravel, or sand, so he tries to hold firmly in his hands.
As for the internal signs, they are observed through an autopsy, and an examination of the lungs, heart, stomach, spleen, and microorganisms present in the circulatory system and internal organs, which give signs of the type of water and the environment in which he drowned.
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