Was watching an episode of Adam 12 last night where Reed sees a boat overturned in a lake and two unconscious kids next to it. As he's running towards the water he removes his belt and holster with a gun and drops it on the ground. What would you remove before going in the water in a similar situation if you were in street attire on a summer day? Cellphone, wallet, shoes, watch if not waterproof, clothing, jewelry?
What would you take off if you were going into the water to save a drowning person?
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Just my cellphone. Maybe wallet since they're in the same pocket. This went through my head a couple years ago when a little kid in my neighborhood "ran away" and was headed towards a pool. I saw her running across a front yard towards the backyard and a pool. I knew she didn't live there so I stopped my car and ran after her. Luckily, she didn't go for a swim and headed back home. Her father was outside a few doors down looking for her with look of panic when you lose track of your kid.
This is one of those things that you should not try in real life just because you saw someone on TV do it. Watching a fictionalized cop show once is not sufficient training to be a water rescuer. Very often the well-intentioned person becomes merely an additional victim. Although he might have left behind something nice on the beach.
It would be better to throw some kind of floatation device their way since panicked swimmers can drown you. But if this wasn't an option, I'd remove my shoes/shirt and empty my pockets.
Shoes, then empty pockets if time permits.
The closest I've ever came to death is when I was a lifeguard; panicked people will beat you to death. That job was 99.5% extreme boredom and .5% shear terror.
Hard as it is to believe, I have experience in this area. Two years ago, my son and I saved two men from drowning in Gulf Shores, AL. They had gotten swept out by a rip current and weren't good swimmers. They were both seconds from drowning when we got to them with my boogie board, which they were both able to grab onto. Then we swam with them in tow parallel to the shore away from the rip current and back to shore. 911 had been called about the same time we saw them struggling and paramedics were on the beach as soon as we got there. One man was transported to the hospital and the other refused treatment. No idea what came of either of them.
We were already in our swimsuits so nothing to remove.
We were already in our swimsuits so nothing to remove.
Going in the water is literally the last thing you do... The order of operations is Reach / Throw / Row/ Go. As mentioned in an earlier post, the victim is panicing and can potentially drown the rescuer.
Exactly. Diving in makes for great TV. Not the best idea in life.
Heroism tends to harm the person doing the rescue,,,hmmm
Shoes, it's hard to get any kick in the water with them on. Former competitive swimmer as a young child.
I think my cell phone is good for 1m so just my shoes and possibly my jacket if I was wearing one. My sons are way faster swimmers than me so I'd be yelling for them too!
Yeah, my son is getting his life guard training and they go over how to deal with panicked people in the water so you can minimize this. Not to say its always going to work perfectly!
Nothing. I can't swim.
Why do you assume that I would want to potentially save a drowning person?
Such lack of love to not want to save someone's life much less actually risk your own.
I would remove my gun as well. 
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