Aquatic Injury Facts
Drowning & Near Drowning Accidents
The death rate from drowning among children ages 14 and under
declined 35 percent from 1987 to 1996. However, drowning remains the second leading cause
of unintentional injury-related death in this age group and the leading cause of
unintentional injury-related death among children ages 1 to 4. The majority of drowning
and near-drowning occurs in residential swimming pools. However, children can drown in as
little as one inch of water and are therefore at risk of drowning in wading pools,
bathtubs, buckets, diaper pails, toilets, spas and hot tubs. Additionally, older children
are more likely to drown in open water sites, such as lakes, rivers and oceans.
Drowning usually occurs quickly and silently. Childhood drowning and
near-drowning can happen in a matter of seconds and typically occur when a child is left
unattended or during a brief lapse in supervision. Two minutes following submersion, a
child will lose consciousness. Irreversible brain damage occurs after four to six minutes
and determines the immediate and long-term survival of a child. The majority of children
who survive are discovered within two minutes following submersion (92 percent), and most
children who die are found after 10 minutes (86 percent). Nearly all who require
cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) die or are left with severe brain injury.
DEATHS AND INJURIES
- In 1996, nearly 1,000 children ages 14 and under drowned. Children
ages 4 and under accounted for nearly half of these deaths.
- Each year, an estimated 5,000 children ages 14 and under are
hospitalized due to near-drowning.
- Near-drowning have high case fatality rates. Fifteen percent of
children admitted for near-drowning die in the hospital. As many as 20 percent of
near-drowning survivors suffer severe, permanent neurological disability.
- For every child who drowns, an additional four are hospitalized for
near-drowning; and for every hospital admission, approximately four children are treated
in hospital emergency rooms.
- A swimming pool is 14 times more likely than a motor vehicle to be
involved in the death of a child age 4 and under.
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WHEN AND WHERE DROWNING AND NEAR-DROWNING OCCUR
- More than half of drowning among infants (under age 1) occur in
bathtubs. Drowning in this age group also occur in toilets and buckets.
- More than 85 percent of drowning among children ages 1 to 4 are pool
related.
- Children ages 5 to 14 most often drown in swimming pools and open
water sites.
- More than 320 children, 88 percent between the ages of 7 and 15
months, have drowned in buckets containing water or other liquids used for mopping floors
and other household chores since 1984.
- Approximately 10 percent of childhood drowning occur in bathtubs; and
the majority of these occur in the absence of adult supervision.
- Among children ages 4 and under, there are approximately 375
residential swimming pool drowning and 2,900 near-drowning requiring hospital emergency
room treatment each year. More than half of these drowning occur in the child's home pool
and one-third at the homes of friends, neighbors or relatives.
- The majority of children who drown in swimming pools were last seen
in the home, had been missing from sight for less than five minutes, and were in the care
of one or both parents at the time of the drowning.
- In-ground swimming pools without complete four-sided isolation
fencing are 60 percent more likely to be involved in drowning than those with four-sided
isolation fencing.
- Since 1980, approximately 230 children ages 4 and under have drowned
in spas and hot tubs.
- In 1997, 31 children ages 14 and under died in boating-related
incidents. Nearly 60 percent of these children drowned; the remaining deaths were
associated with other injuries such as falls, burns and propeller-related injuries.
- In 1997, more than 200 children ages 14 and under suffered personal
watercraft-related injuries while on the water.
- Drowning and near-drowning tend to occur on Saturdays and Sundays (40
percent) and between the months of May and August (66 percent).
- Drowning fatality rates are higher in southern and western states
than in other regions of the United States. Rural areas have higher death rates than urban
or suburban areas, in part due to decreased access to emergency medical care.
WHO IS AT RISK
- Children ages 4 and under have the highest drowning death rate, a
rate two to three times greater than other age groups, and account for more than 40
percent of home drowning. These drowning typically occur in swimming pools and bathtubs.
- Male children have a drowning rate two to four times that of female
children. However, females have a bathtub drowning rate twice the rate of males.
- Black children ages 14 and under have a drowning death rate that is
two times greater than white children, in general and six times greater for drowning
involving buckets. However, white children ages 1 to 4 have a drowning death rate that is
twice that of black children, primarily from residential swimming pool drowning.
- Low-income children are at greater risk from non-swimming pool
drowning.
- Among children hospitalized for near-drowning, prolonged submersion
and time until resuscitative efforts are initiated, as well as hypothermia, are strongly
associated with poor outcomes.
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HEALTH CARE COSTS AND SAVINGS
- Typical medical costs for a near-drowning victim can range from
$75,000 for initial emergency room treatment to $180,000 a year for long-term care. The
cost of a near-drowning that results in brain damage can be more than $4.5 million.
- The total annual cost of drowning and near-drowning among children
ages 14 and under is approximately $6.2 billion. Children ages 4 and under account for
$3.8 billion, or 61 percent, of these costs.
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WATER SAFETY LAWS AND REGULATIONS
- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has developed voluntary
guidelines, which include both education and labeling, to address the hazard of children
drowning in five-gallon buckets.
- Three states (Arizona, California and Oregon) and many communities
have enacted safety laws requiring fencing around residential swimming pools.
- Thirty-two states have enacted boating safety laws requiring children
to wear PFDs at all times when on boats or near open bodies of water. These laws vary in
age requirements, exemptions and enforcement procedures.
- Recreational boats must carry one U.S. Coast Guard-approved PFD in
good condition and the correct size for each person aboard. A properly sized PFD must be
available, serviceable and accessible.
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Source: This information was compiled by the National SAFE KIDS Campaign.
Copyright 2007, Foundation for Aquatic
Injury Prevention
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