I almost drowned once.  I was maybe 10 and in the river my family visited nearly every summer when I was little.  My dad was five yards away and didn't realize I was in trouble.  My shoes got caught in the mud and I was trapped.  The more I struggled the more I sank.

My mother saw I was in trouble from the shore and ran down the bank of the river screaming for my father to help me.  She stepped into a hole and let out a blood curdling scream.  My father did pull me up, angry I had been horsing around before attending to my mother. It turned out she had broken her hip. 

I wasn't horsing around.  My father held the same notion that many people do—drowning people thrash about screaming for help or are face down floating on the water.  According to Coast Guard Marine Safety Specialist Mario Vittone and Frank Pia, a psychologist and lifeguard who created the Pia carry method of keeping drowning non swimmer's heads' above water, drowning is deceptively quiet.

In an article by Pia and Vittone in the Coast Guard's On Scene Magazine, described the instinctive drowning response like this:

• Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled before speech occurs.

• Drowning people's mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale and call out for help. When the drowning people's mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.

• Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water's surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.

• Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.

• From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response, people's bodies remain upright in the water with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20-60 seconds before submersion occurs.

According to Vittone, "This doesn't mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn't in real trouble—they are experiencing aquatic distress. Not always present before the instinctive drowning response, aquatic distress doesn't last long. But unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in their own rescue.  They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc."

Parents please don't be lulled into a false sense of security just because your child can swim.  I am an extremely strong swimmer.  At 10 I was on three teams—my school swim team, my neighborhood team and my AAU year round team. I learned to swim as a toddler and had taken to it like a fish.  I wanted to go to the Olympics.  That didn't save me from nearly drowning.

Last year, I was watching my son in the kiddie pool. I looked up and noticed two of the three lifeguards on duty at the time weren't watching the kids. One actually had his back to a pool talking to friends.  I waited to see how long it would take before they looked back at the pool. It was so long I was able to snap several pictures to show the pool manager who furious and went to rectify the situation. I don't think the Millburn Pool lifeguards were bad. But lifeguards are not a substitute for our own eyes and ears.