Drowning Alert

Second leading cause of unintentional death in children ages one to 19. For infants less than one year, drowning is the third leading cause of death.
Drowning kills three kids a day in the U.S.
About half are older than 4, the age American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children to start swimming lessons.
Six LA teens died in the Red River in August 2010, all trying to help one another. Onlookers could not swim.
Black and Hispanic drowning rates are significantly higher than whites. Black children five to 14 are 3 times more likely to drown than whites. 70 percent of black youngsters between ages of six and 16 have low or no swimming skills; non-swimming rate for Hispanic children is also alarming at 58%.
Unintentional drowning kills more than 830 children ages 14 and younger each year.
3,600 injuries occur each year to children due to near-drowning incidents.
Home swimming pools are the most common site for a drowning to occur for a child between the ages of 1 to 4 years.
A national study revealed that in nearly 9 out of 10 drowning deaths a parent or caregiver claimed to be supervising the child.
Between May and August, drowning deaths among children increase 89 percent over the rest of the year.
16 percent of drowning deaths in children who are under 5 years of age are at a family or friend’s pool. 17 percent of the deaths occur at a public, community or neighbor pool.
The majority of infant drowning deaths happened in bathtubs, buckets or toilets.
Children age 4 and under have the highest drowning death rate and account for 80 percent of home drowning.
Male children have a drowning rate twice that of female children.
A recent study published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, “Association Between Swimming Lessons and Drowning in Childhood,” concluded that participation in formal swimming lessons was associated with an 88% reduction in the risk of drowning among children in the 1 to 4 year old age group.

Safe Kids USA
www.safekids.org
The American Academy of Pediatrics
www.aap.org
National Drowning Prevention Alliance (NDPA)
www.ndpa.org/home/index.php

Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning
www.slate.com