may be misunderstood as "playing in the water" by those unfamiliar with drowning, and other swimmers just meters away may not realize that an emergency is occurring. Lifeguards and other persons trained in rescue learn to recognize a drowning person by watching for these instinctive actions. Danger to rescuer In emergency situations in which lifeguards or other trained personnel are not present, it is advisable to reach for the victim from land with your hand or a long stick, row to them in a boat, or throw them a flotation device, but not to enter the water (often pithily summarised as "Reach or throw, don't go.") While the instinctive reaction to drowning is taking place, the victim will latch onto any nearby solid objects in attempts to get air, which can result in the drowning of a would-be rescuer as well as (or instead of) the original victim. This "aquatic victim-instead-of-rescuer scenario" is common and killed 103 would-be rescuers in Australia between 1992 and 2010, and another 81 people in New Zealand between 1980 and 2012. A study of drownings in Turkey found 88 cases in which 114 would-be rescuers drowned during their attempts to rescue a primary drowning victim. Research and discovery The common drowning behaviors were identified by Frank Pia, based upon study of film footage of actual and near-drownings, and documented in his 1971 instructional film, On Drowning, and a 1974 paper, Observations on the drowning of nonswimmers. At the time, it was commonly believed that drowning involved agitated behaviors, although Pia cites an earlier (unspecified) 1966 paper as likewise observing that this was not necessarily the case. References External links Drowning Signs Aren't Like the Movies, WIVBTV. Drowning Lifesaving Medical emergencies Diving medicine Reflexes