Drowning

Each year drowning causes approximately 1,000 child deaths per year, making it the 2nd leading cause of unintentional injury-related death in children under age 14 (1). It is also a great contributor to unintentional injuries. According to the CDC, for every child who drowns, three receive emergency department care for near-drowning or non-fatal submersion injuries. More than 40% of the children seen in the emergency department will require subsequent hospitalization (2a). 

Most drownings among children aged 1 to 4 years occur in residential swimming pools (2b). Drowning can happen very quickly, often only in a matter of seconds, and it can occur in only one inch of water (1). Most young children who drowned in pools were last seen in the home, had been out of sight less than five minutes, and were in the care of one or both parents at the time (2c).

Residential swimming pools are the most common location of drowning and near-drowning (1). One half of these deaths and injuries take place most often at a child’s home and one third occur at the home of friends, neighbors, and relatives (1). Children under age one most often drown in bathtubs, buckets, and toilets (2b).  Children of older aged are more likely to drown in open water areas such as ponds, lakes, and rivers (2). 

In general, African American children are more likely to drown than white children. African American infants under age one were almost twice as likely to drown as white children (2a). However, among children 1 to 4 years of age, African Americans have a lower drowning rate than whites. But, African American children aged 5 to 19 years drowned at 2.6 times the rate of white children in this age group in 2000 (2a).

Other risk factors include:

• Type of swimming pool
• In-ground swimming pools without complete four-sided isolation fencing are 60% more likely to be involved in drownings than those with four-sided isolation fencing (1).
• Time of week and time of year
• 40% of drownings and near-drownings occur on the weekend
• 62% occur between the months of May and August (1).
• Geographic location.
• Death rates from drowning are higher in rural areas compared with cities and suburbs, in part due to decreased access to emergency medical care (1).

Healthy People 2010 Objectives Related to Drowning:

15-29: Drowning

References:

1.  Safe Kids Campaign. 2004. Facts About Childhood Drowning.

2.  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2004. Water-Related Injuries.

a.  CDC 2002

b.  Brenner et al. 2001

c.  Present, 1987.

 

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