Safety Statistics
The following statistics are horrifying but true.
• A child is 14 times more likely to die in a pool than in a motor accident!
• 80 -100 kids aged between 1 and 4 drown in Spain's pools every year.
• Over 30 kids drowned in pools in Portugal in 2011, almost 60 in Italy in 2010.
• More than 280 children under the age of 5 drown in swimming pools each year in the USA.
• An estimated 2,100 children were treated in hospital USA Emergency Departments (EDs) in 2005 for 'pool submersion' injuries.
• In the same year 17 drowning deaths involving inflatable pools were reported in the USA.
• 77% of drowning victims are missing for under 5 minutes.
• Almost 70% of drowning victims were not seen near the pool before the incident occurred.
• From 2005-2009, there were an average of 3,533 unintentional fatal drowning accidents involving persons across all ages (non-boating related) annually in the USA; about ten deaths every single day.
• About one in five people who die from drowning are children aged 4 and younger.
• For every child who dies from drowning, another five receive Emergency Department hospital care for non-fatal submersion injuries.
• More than 50% of drowning victims treated in hospital EDs require hospitalization or transfer for further care (compared with a hospitalization rate of about 6% for all other unintentional injuries).
• These non-fatal drowning injuries frequently cause severe brain damage that may result in long-term disabilities such as memory problems, learning disabilities, and permanent loss of basic functioning (e.g., 'Permanent Vegetative State).
• 62% of parents whose child has drowned in a private pool end their marriages in acrimonious divorce within 3 years.
• Over 80% of families feel the need to move house after a death in their backyard pool.
Who is most at risk?
• Males: - Nearly 80% of people who die from drowning are male.
• Children aged 1 to 4 have the highest drowning rates.
• In 2009, among all children who died from an unintentional injury , more than 30% of the 1 to 4 year-olds died from drowning.
• In the age group of kids ages 1-to-4, most drowning deaths occur in home swimming pools.
• Drowning is the #2 cause of death among under 4's; more than any cause except birth defects (congenital anomalies).
• Among those aged 1-14, drowning remains the #2 cause of unintentional death behind motor vehicle crashes.
• Minorities: - The fatal unintentional drowning rate for African Americans is significantly higher than that of whites across all ages.
• The above disparity is widest among children 5-14 years old.
• The death-rate by drowning of African-American children aged 5 - 15 is almost three times that of white children in the same age range.
What factors influence drowning risk?
- Swimming pool access, whether or not a child can swim, and choice of water-related recreational activities all contribute to the racial differences in drowning rates. The main factors that affect drowning risk are lack of swimming ability, lack of barriers to prevent unsupervised water access, lack of close supervision while swimming, location, drug and alcohol use and seizure disorders.
Lack of Swimming Ability
- Many adults and children can’t swim, yet research has shown that learning to swim greatly reduces the risk of drowning among all age ranges, including adults.
- No surprises there, then! It’s good to know our taxes are being spent on discovering new, unexpected, informational gems.
- Ensure that your non-swimming family members get swimming lessons.
Lack of Safety Barriers
Pool Fencing, Safety Covers or Pool Safety Nets prevent young children from gaining access to the pool.
A four-sided isolation fence (separating the pool area from the house and yard) reduces a child’s risk of drowning by 83% compared to three-sided ‘property-line’ fencing.
Lack of Close Supervision
Drowning can happen quickly and quietly anywhere there is water, such as play-pools, swimming pools, ponds, deep puddles, bath tubs and buckets, and even in the presence of lifeguards.
Everyone who uses the pool is at risk and should be supervised by a competent adult.
Location
People of different ages drown in different locations.
For example, most drowning fatalities of children ages 1 - 4 occur in home swimming pools.
The percentage of drowning accidents in natural water settings, including lakes, rivers and oceans, increases with age.
Over 50% of fatal and non-fatal drowning incidents among those older than 15 years occur in natural water settings.
Alcohol and Drug use
Alcohol influences balance, coordination and judgment, and the effects are heightened by sun and heat. Drug usage does the same, only more so.
Mixing alcohol, drugs, sunshine and water is a very bad idea. Among adolescents and adults, alcohol and/or drug use is involved in over: -
• 70% of deaths associated with water recreation.
• Almost 25% of Hospital visits for drowning.
• About 20% of reported boating deaths.
Seizure Disorders
For persons with seizure disorders, across all ages, drowning is the most common cause of unintentional injury death.
