If you were attempting a water rescue of two children and you retrieved one, but he wasn't breathing, do you go back for the second and then attempt CPR on the first or stick with the first child and start CPR?

I go for them both…that is that I am sure I can get to them both within 3–5 minutes. Gosh that would be a difficult situation and I would do chest compressions on both as that is the new CPR guidelines so I would like to think I could administer the chest compressions until help arrived.

I get both of them out of there before I work on either.

Go for the other one, then do CPR first on the one I got initially.

Stopping to start CPR would be detrimental to the life of the other child. Hurry back to rescue the second child, then start CPR on the first child or/both.

What if you go back for the second child without success and the first one dies while you’re trying to get the other? You’ve lost both kids when you had one partially saved.

@Adirondackwannabe That is the call you make before going back for the second child. You know how long it took you to get the one child and you can make that difficult call on the spot. This is why rescue training is so important and can save lives and at the same time cost more than one life including your own.

@Cruiser Having to make that call sucks. Maybe I’ll give up swimming.

Only you could make this decision. A lot particulars would help you to make a decision. How long have both been in the water? The one rescued, do you believe he is too far gone? Do you have the strength to go back into the water for a second rescue, so that you would not become victim number 3? Are there people around to help with CPR on the first victim?

As you can see this is not an easy choice to make in a split second and only you could make this decision, based on the situation.

These are the kind of decisions that police officers have to make everyday.

I’d go for both. As I’m good in the water (supposedly) I’ll try my level best to manage time. Once I have both of them out I’ll work on them, give them mouth to mouth. I couldn’t possibly work on one while the other was still in the water.

Let’s see:
I have two kids
I never taught the kids to swim
I knowingly put the kids into a canoe – an extremely easily tipped vessel
I failed to provide life preservers for the kids, or I failed to enforce their wear
The canoe tips
What do I do?
I swim to shore alone, duh. It’s obvious I never cared about the kids to begin with.

@GladysMensch That’s exactly what prompted this question. I’m out swimming and two young kids are by me with no life jackets at all. And they obviously were not used to a canoe. The hotel staff called them back to shore and made them wear life jackets.

@Adirondackwannabe That was what struck me the most as to who in their right mind would let their kids go in a canoe without a life jacket.

@Adirondackwannabe In that situation, there is only one course of action.

Swim to shore alone

Find the parents and inform them that their child/ren are dead due to their negligent parenting

Immediately check out of the hotel – it’s staff knowingly checked out a canoe to two kids without life preservers. The place is a death-trap

Contact the sleaziest attorney you can find and sue the hotel/chain, and the parents of each child for your emotional distress

@Cruiser That was my first thought. It was oh f**k, what idiot let them out like that.
@GladysMensch The canoes are out there for anyone to use during the day. It’s on an honor system. And it’s a really nice hotel.

I’d go and get the other one, he could still be alive.

They’re both rescued simultaenously, coz I swim like Johnny Weismuller…when he was alive that is.

@Adirondackwannabe A really nice hotel that doesn’t care about the safety of guests. Fortunately, for the staff and other patrons, my client was there to witness the inevitable result of their negligence. The hotel willingly left those floating caskets unattended under the guise of an “honor system”. Their failure to provide a single employee to the safe distribution and oversight of water sports is directly responsible for the deaths of two children and countless others who have gone down to the briny deep before them.

And let’s not forget my client. My client who is now terrified of water, and hasn’t been able to bathe for weeks. My client who breaks into hives whenever he drives by a hotel. My client who required 21 days in Europe’s most expensive therapy resort, after walking through a Gander Mountain. Truly, this shattered man, this broken hero to so many may find solace one day, but certainly not with less than 2.3 million dollars in pain and suffering.
I rest my case

@GladysMensch I see your point. This was in the north of NYS in the Adirondack Park, which is somewhat of a wilderness area. It’s not an area for the faint of heart or the stupid. But stupid people make it to there. I’m guessing the canoes disappear at some point due to the liability issues you raised.

Get both, then start working. You have a little bit of leeway, time-wise, on the CPR (and no guarantee of success!); certainly more so than you would with the other kid sinking to the bottom.

I would definitely go for the second kid. I’m an excellent swimmer. I don’t think I would have a problem getting the second child out, because I’m pretty fit with a good physique. At least if I go for the second kid, I know that there’s still a chance I can save the lives of both, not just one. And I’m well-trained in CPR too with all the swimming I do all the time.

I have two little girls. If something like that happened to them, I’d try my best to save both of them. I’d jump back into the water for my second child, because both are the world to me, and I’m sure a stranger’s kids are the world to him/her too.

I would 1st have to cut out the emotion, not be hobbled by the thought I could not save them both. I would assess whether I would be able to save both quickly. If one was in murky water and not easy to spot, or being carried downstream I would just have to write him/her off and save the one I had. If I could get to the other quickly, I would go for them both. If I attempted to get the second but it was taking too long, I would abandon it and go back to save the first.