What to Do If a Car You’re in Gets Submerged in Water, According to an Emergency Room Doctor

An emergency room doctor is detailing what to do should a car you’re in ever become submerged in water.

Dr. Darria Long, a physician from Atlanta, shared a post on TikTok earlier this month, in which she broke down how to escape the emergency situation through four easy steps, using the acronym SWOC.

The S in SWOC, according to Dr. Darria, stands for “seatbelts off,” the W stands for “windows open,” the O stands for “out of restraints and out of the car” and the C stands for “oldest children out first.”

“Repeat SWOC to yourself. Burn it on your brain, in hopes you’ll NEVER EVER need it,” Dr. Darria wrote in her post’s caption.

Dr. Darria also went into more detail about common myths that are associated with cars that become submerged in water.

According to the physician, those in the vehicle should “NOT rely on glass-breakers” because “it takes precious time to FIND your glass-breaker, AND (2) many modern cars have side windows made with laminated glass (just like the windshield), and glass-breakers will NOT break that.”

Dr. Darria also noted that “electrical windows WILL open,” stating, “The issue isn’t the electricity – it’s pressure. You just need to open the window before the water has reached ⅓ – ½ of the way up (ideally before the water has even risen to the window level).”

She added that those in the car should not go out the door, given that the “water pressure could make it slam back on you, AND this makes the car fill with water MUCH faster.”

Dr. Darria’s tips have been shared amid the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse that occurred earlier this week, when the bridge was struck by a container ship.

Eight people were working on the bridge at the time of the collapse. Two people were rescued from the water shortly after, while the other six remain missing.

The wife of Julio Cervantes, one of eight construction workers on the bridge at the time of the incident, told NBC News, “All of the men were on a break in their cars when the boat hit.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration announced on Thursday that the Biden administration approved the distribution of $60 million in “quick release” Emergency Relief funds to help rebuild the bridge.