Learn how to stay healthy and safe while enjoying the water!

Drowning

Drowning is the leading cause of injury death among children 1–4 years old. Every day, 10 people die from drowning; 2 of those 10 are children under the age of 15 years. Of drowning victims who survive and are treated in emergency departments, more than half are hospitalized or transferred for further care. These individuals often experience brain damage, which can cause memory problems, learning disabilities, or permanent loss of basic functioning (or permanent vegetative state).

To prevent drowning:

•     Everyone (adults and children) should know how to swim.
•     Caregivers should know CPR.
•     All boaters and weaker swimmers should use lifejackets.
•     Backyard swimming pools should be separated from the house and yard by a fence with a self-closing and self-latching gate.

Take Action to Reduce Risks:

• Learn to swim. Formal swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by as much as 88% among young children aged 1 to 4 years, who are at greatest risk of drowning. However, even when children have had formal swimming lessons, constant, careful supervision when in the water, and barriers to prevent unsupervised access are necessary to prevent drowning.
• Closely watch swimmers in or around the water. Designate a responsible adult who can swim and knows CPR to watch swimmers in or around water – even when lifeguards are present. That adult should not be involved in any other distracting activity (such as reading, or talking on the phone) while watching children.
• Learn Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). In the time it might take for lifeguards or paramedics to arrive, your CPR skills could save someone's life.
• Fence it off. Barriers to pool access should be used to help prevent young children from gaining access to the pool area without caregivers' awareness when they aren't supposed to be swimming. Pool fences should completely separate the house and play area from the pool, be at least 4 feet high, and have self-closing and self-latching gates that open outward, with latches that are out of the reach of children.
• Use the Buddy System. Regardless of your age, always swim with a buddy.
• Look for lifeguards. Select swimming sites that have lifeguards whenever possible.
• Know the terrain. Be aware of and avoid drop-offs and hidden obstacles in natural water sites. Always enter water feet first.
• Avoid rip currents. Watch for dangerous waves and signs of rip currents, like water that is discolored and choppy, foamy, or filled with debris and moving in a channel away from shore. If you are caught in a rip current, swim parallel to shore; once free of the current, swim diagonally toward shore.
• Use U.S. Coast Guard approved life jackets. Do not use air-filled or foam toys, such as "water wings", "noodles", or inner-tubes, in place of life jackets. These toys are not designed to keep swimmers safe.
• Avoid alcohol. Avoid drinking alcohol before or during swimming, boating, or water skiing. Don't drink alcohol while supervising children.
• Don't hyperventilate. Swimmers should never hyperventilate before swimming underwater or try to hold their breath for long periods of time. This can cause them to pass out (sometimes called "shallow water blackout") and drown.

Remember: Think Healthy. Swim Healthy! Be Healthy!

Recreational Water Illness and Injury Prevention Week 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013 from http://www.cdc.gov/Features/RWIS/