The passerelle is down, the swim ladder is rigged, and the six-year-old who was on the sunpad thirty seconds ago is not on the sunpad now. Nobody heard a splash. Real drowning is almost silent: there is no shouting, no waving, no thrashing. It looks like nothing at all, and that is what makes it the single biggest threat to a child on a yacht.
Why This Is the Dominant Risk
A yacht is a platform surrounded on all sides by deep water, with low freeboard, open transoms, tenders, swim platforms and often a pool or jacuzzi. Children are drawn to water and are frequently non-swimmers or weak swimmers. Immersion is quick, quiet and can be fatal in a very short time.
What to Look For
| Signal | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| A child who is simply not where they were | Assume the water until proved otherwise |
| Head low, mouth at water level, quiet | This is drowning, not playing |
| Vertical in the water, no kicking | The body cannot call for help |
| Coughing, gasping or blue lips after a dip | The airway has taken water |
| Any period of unconsciousness in water | An emergency regardless of appearance |
What You Do FIRST
- Shout. Raise the alarm instantly and loudly. Every second of delay costs.
- Point and keep pointing. Never take your eyes off the child in the water.
- Send someone to the bridge. Man overboard procedure, engines, tender.
- Throw flotation if it is to hand. Do not enter the water unless you are trained and it is safe to do so; drowning rescuers become drowning casualties.
- Get the trained responder and the medical locker to the scene.
The Honest Statement
What happens next, if the child is not breathing normally, is paediatric resuscitation. This course does not teach it and cannot teach it. It is a physical skill, taught and assessed hands-on, and a child is not simply a smaller adult. If you want to be the person who can act in those minutes, you must hold a current, practically assessed Paediatric First Aid certificate. Read this lesson, then book that course.
The Rule Nobody Bends
Every immersion incident goes to a doctor. Every one. A child who coughed, choked or went under and now seems entirely fine still needs medical assessment, because complications can develop afterwards. Escalate. Get telemedical advice. Let the captain decide.
Prevention Is the Real Skill
- Correctly sized, correctly fitted life jackets worn on deck, on the tender and at the passerelle.
- Named, allocated child-watch: one adult, one child, eyes on. Not "someone is watching".
- Gates, nets, closed transoms, ladders raised, pool covered.
- The passerelle is a fall point. Treat every embarkation and disembarkation as a hazard.
- No swimming while engines, thrusters or the tender are live.
Onboard Notes
- Learn this yacht man overboard procedure now, and where the throwing gear lives.
- Agree the child-watch by name at every swim stop.
- Never accept "she seems fine" after an immersion. She goes to a doctor.
- Preparatory study only. Awareness, not first aid training. This course teaches no techniques and does not qualify you to treat a child. A current, practically assessed paediatric first aid certificate from an approved provider is required.