After the death of Abdullah, the son of the artist Hassan Youssef, and the Mu’tazila actress Shams Al-Baroudi, by drowning in a village on the northern coast, the term drowning asphyxia, a condition that was the cause of death, was circulated in the media, amid questions about the meaning and types of this term.
According to Dina Shukry, a professor of forensic medicine at Cairo University, the word sphyxia is a Latin word meaning the absence of a pulse, given that when a person loses the ability to breathe, the heart stops and its beat stops, but in fact it may happen when oxygen is prevented that the heart continues to beat until it stops. completely.
The head of the Arab League for Forensic Medicine and a member of the Advisory Committee for Forensic Medicine at the International Criminal Court in The Hague adds to Sky News Arabia that oxygen is necessary for the work of the heart muscle, which pumps blood to the tissues of the body and delivers the food and oxygen it needs.
Dina explained that there are many types of ecchysia, the most prominent of which are:
Isphicia of suffocation Isphicia of hanging Isphicia of holding the breath When air is prevented from the nose and mouth, where oxygen does not reach the body. Suffocation is when the percentage of oxygen decreases in a room and is replaced by non-breathable gas, such as cases of suffocation by water vapor in the bathroom when staying in it for a long time, or an increase in the percentage of carbon dioxide in the room atmosphere instead of oxygen. Asphyxia holding the breath when air is prevented from reaching the mouth and nose, which may lead to death. Drowning isphyxia, where water enters the lungs and displaces oxygen.
A member of the Advisory Committee of the International Criminal Court pointed out that the lung is like a piece of sponge, where the identity sacs through the capillaries on its surface absorb oxygen and deliver it to the blood until the heart pumps it through the aorta to the rest of the body, and carbon dioxide comes out with exhalation in the metabolism process.
Symptoms of drowning asphyxia
And the head of the Arab League for Forensic Medicine found that there are different cases of those whose bodies are found in the water, and forensic medicine can distinguish between those who died asphyxially from drowning or from other causes. He can also know whether the drowning was accidental or for criminal reasons, according to different data:
The drowned dead struggles to obtain oxygen, and we find remnants of water that entered his body through the mouth and nose into the trachea and respiratory system, such as algae and some microorganisms. As soon as a person is removed from the water, foam appears on him coming out of the nose and mouth, and it is white in color and has no smell. When pressing on the chest, it comes out more from the mouth and nose, which indicates the death of the person by drowning. We may find in the hand of the drowned person things from the place in which he drowned, such as holding sand, for example, or something else. Microorganisms indicate the place where the person died, sometimes the person drowns in one place and is placed in another place to mislead the authorities about the location of the crime, and these organisms are discovered in the lung and sometimes in the bone marrow, and they indicate that the person was breathing before drowning and as a result of the breathing process Microorganisms have entered the lung. In some crimes, the bodies were thrown into the water after they were killed to give the impression that the death occurred accidentally in the water. The presence of other causes of death, such as stab wounds, bullet wounds, or blows to the head, are factors that suggest death before falling into the water. In cases of suicide, there are factors that prove their occurrence: such as the circumstances of the case and whether there were previous attempts to commit suicide, such as attempting to cut arteries, or taking drugs, in addition to the existence of a history of mental illness, and the circumstances before the accident. Suicides are not only related to the medical examination, but rather a complete picture through which we judge the person’s life and behavior, and we suggest what happened after that.
Dina Shoukry, a professor of forensic medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, advises to follow the instructions and not to go down to the water in high-risk areas, and to be aware of the need to adhere to the advice of specialists in this regard, and the need for rescuers and paramedics to be near water bodies and listen to their advice, with the importance of having specialists in rapid initial resuscitation to save cases. that call for it.
