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| WHAT: | Drowning is the second leading cause of accidental injury-related death among children ages one to 14 and the leading cause of accidental injury-related death among children ages one to four |
| WHO: |  In 2002, 838 children ages 14 and under died as a result of accidental drowning. Children ages four and under accounted for more than 60 percent of these deaths.
More than 4,000 children will be treated in hospital emergency rooms around the country annually for drowning-related incidents Approximately 15 percent of children admitted to hospitals for near-drowning die, while another 20 percent will suffer severe and permanent brain damage. |
| WHEN: | Nine of 10 drowning-related deaths occurred while a child was “reportedly” being supervised. |
| WHERE: | More than half of childhood drownings in pools occur in the child’s home pool. Most of these children 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 drowning.
Among children ages four and under, there are about 300 residential swimming pool drownings nationwide each year. Drownings for most infants under the age of one are in bathtubs, most often when the child is unsupervised. Other drownings in this age group tend to occur in toilets and buckets. |
| PREVENTION: | Research shows that 88 percent of children who drowned were reportedly under the supervision of an adult. While better supervision is critical, the study also found that many adults had not properly fenced pools, required use of personal flotation devices (PFDs), or taught their children how to swim.
It is estimated that 85 percent of boating-related drownings could have been prevented if the victim had been wearing a personal flotation device. |
| *Sources: Safe Kids Worldwide, National Safety Council, KidsHealth, www.etch.com | |
Children’s Hospital’s Healthy Kids program offers regular classes on CPR certification. For more information or to sign up for classes, call the Children’s Hospital Community Relations Office at (865) 541-8165.
