How large is the problem of unintentional drowning in the United States?

• In 1998, 4,406 people drowned, including 1,003 children younger than 15 years old.¹
• In 1992, the U.S. Coast Guard received reports of 6,000 crashes involving recreational boats that resulted in 3,700 injuries and 816 deaths.²
   

Which groups of people are more likely to drown?

Children:
Drowning is the second leading cause of injury-related death for children (aged 1 through 14 years), accounting for 940 deaths in 1998.¹

Males:
In 1998, males comprised 81% of people who drowned in the United States.¹

Blacks:
In 1998, the overall age-adjusted drowning rate for blacks was 1.6 times higher than for whites. Black children ages 5 through 19 years drowned at 2.5 times the rate of whites.¹ Black children ages 1 through 4 years had a lower drowning rate than white children, largely because drowning in that age group typically occur in residential swimming pools, which are not as accessible to minority children in the United States.^1,3,4
 

Where do childhood drowning occur most often?

Most children drown in swimming pools.  
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), emergency departments reported that among children younger than 5 years old, about 320 fatal drowning in 1991 and nearly 2,300 non-fatal near-drowning in 1993 occurred in residential swimming pools. Between 60-90% of drowning among children aged 0-4 years occur in residential pools; more than half of these occur at the child's own home. Compared with in-ground pools without four-sided fencing, 60% fewer drowning occur in in-ground pools with four-sided isolation fencing. ⁵

 
How often is alcohol use involved in drowning?

Alcohol use is involved in about 25-50% of adolescent and adult deaths associated with water recreation. It is a major contributing factor in up to 50% of drowning among adolescent boys.^6,7
 

Which states have the highest rates of drowning?

States with the Highest Rates of Unintentional Drowning per 100,000 Population* (1998)¹

*Ranking based on age-adjusted rate. 
Source: NCHS 2000 Vital Statistics System

 
What can government agencies do to prevent drowning?

• Mandate and enforce legal limits for blood alcohol levels during water recreation activities.
• Provide public service announcements about the danger of combining alcohol with water recreation.
• Eliminate advertisements that encourage alcohol use during boating.
• Restrict the sale of alcohol at water recreation facilities.
   

How can people guard against drowning?

You can greatly reduce the chances of you or your children becoming drowning or near-drowning victims by following a few simple safety tips:

• Whenever young children are swimming, playing, or bathing in water, make sure an adult is constantly watching them. By definition this means that the supervising adult should not read, play cards, talk on the phone, mow the lawn, or do any other distracting activity while watching children.
• Never swim alone or in unsupervised places. Teach children to always swim with a buddy.
• Keep small children away from buckets containing liquid: 5-gallon industrial containers are a particular danger. Be sure to empty buckets when household chores are done.
• Never drink alcohol during or just before swimming, boating, or water skiing. Never drink alcohol while supervising children. Teach teenagers about the danger of drinking alcohol and swimming, boating, or water skiing.
• To prevent choking, never chew gum or eat while swimming, diving, or playing in water.
• Learn to swim. Enroll yourself and/or your children aged 4 and older in swimming classes. Swimming classes are not recommended for children under age 4.
• Learn CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation). This is particularly important for pool owners and individuals who regularly participate in water recreation.
• Do NOT use air-filled swimming aids (such as "water wings") in place of life jackets or life preservers with children. These can give parents and children a false sense of security and increase the risk of drowning.
• Check the water depth before entering. The American Red Cross recommends 9 feet as a minimum depth for diving or jumping.

• Install a four-sided, isolation pool-fence with self-closing and self-latching gates around the pool. The fence should be at least 4 feet tall and completely separate the pool from the house and play area of the yard.
• Prevent children from having direct access to a swimming pool.
• Install a telephone near the pool. Know how to contact local emergency medical services. Post the emergency number, 911, in an easy-to-see place.
• Learn CPR.
   

• Know the local weather conditions and forecast before swimming or boating. Thunderstorms and strong winds can be extremely dangerous to swimmers and boaters.
• Restrict activities to designated swimming areas, which are usually marked by buoys.
• Be cautious, even with lifeguards present.
• Use U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal flotation devices (life jackets) when boating, regardless of distance to be traveled, size of boat, or swimming ability of boaters.
• Remember that open water usually has limited visibility, and conditions can sometimes change from hour to hour. Currents are often unpredictable -- they can move rapidly and quickly change direction. A strong water current can carry even expert swimmers far from shore.
• Watch for dangerous waves and signs of rip currents -- water that is discolored, unusually choppy, foamy, or filled with debris.
• If you are caught in a rip current, swim parallel to the shore. Once you are out of the current, swim toward the shore.
   

Resources 

CDC-Healthy Swimming
Reducing the spread of recreational water illnesses www.cdc.gov/healthyswimming 

Red Cross
Water safety information
www.redcross.org/services/hss/tips/healthtips/safetywater.html 

US Consumer Product Safety Commission Clearinghouse 
For information about pool-related drowning and injuries.
(301) 504-0424 
www.cpsc.gov/

US Coast Guard, Office of Recreational Boating Safety 
For information about boating-related drowning
(202) 267-1077 
www.uscg.mil/

The United States Lifesaving Association (USLA)
USLA works to reduce the incidence of death and injury in the aquatic environment through public education, national lifeguard standards, training programs, promotion of high levels of lifeguard readiness, and other means.
www.usla.org

 
References 

1. National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). National Mortality Data, 1998. Hyattsville (MD): NCHS 2000.
2. US Coast Guard Boating Statistics, 1992. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation (COMDTPUB P16754.8).
3. Branche CM. What is happening with drowning rates in the United States? In: JR Fletemeyer and SJ Freas (eds). Drowning: New perspectives on intervention and prevention. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press LLC, 1999.
4. Branche-Dorsey CM, Russell JC, Greenspan AI, Chorba TC. Unintentional injuries: the problems and some preventive strategies. In: IL Livingston (ed). Handbook of Black American Health: The mosaic of conditions, issues, policies and prospects. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994.
5. US Consumer Product Safety Commission Clearinghouse, Washington DC, (301) 504-0424.
6. National Safety Council, 1993. Accident Facts, 1993 Ed. Itasca, Illinois: Author.
7. Howland J, Hingson R. Alcohol as a risk factor for drowning: a review of the literature (1950-1985). Accident Analysis and Prevention 1988;20:19-25.