A U.S. tourist at a popular snorkeling spot in Hawaii used artificial resuscitation to save a 62-year-old Japanese swimmer after she nearly drowned Monday morning, lifeguards in Hawaii said Wednesday.
The tourist, who happened to be a nurse, noticed the Japanese woman was in trouble while they snorkeled in Hanauma Bay on the island of Oahu, said Edmund Pestana of the Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services department in Honolulu.
The nurse promptly administered artificial resuscitation while both were still in the water, an act Pestana said saved the woman's life.
After receiving six compressions and two breaths, the woman resumed breathing within about a minute. A lifeguard who was about 45 meters away then took over with an oxygen mask and the woman was sent to Straub Clinic & Hospital for observation.
She was released the same day with no injuries, according to a hospital spokesman.
"If an unconscious swimmer who has stopped breathing is given CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) within the first few minutes, the chances of reviving them is pretty good," Pestana said.
John Howe, chief of the lifeguard services department, said drowning accidents are not uncommon. The danger often stems from people who swim alone when they are not accustomed to the ocean, which can be powerful and unpredictable, he said.
Howe, who has been working on lifeguard exchange programs with Japan for the past three years, also notices cultural differences among Japanese tourists who are less inclined to scream for help in emergencies.
On Oct. 19, Fumito Iida, a 32-year-old Japanese from Sapporo, was found drowned in front of a beach front hotel in Honolulu's Waikiki district.
Howe said the two accidents occurred in shallow water and could have been prevented if the swimmers were properly educated about water safety.