Child Drowning Statistics
Water Accidents and Submersion Incidents Involving Kids and Toddlers
Jun 3, 2009
As private and public pools begin to open for the summer, parents need to be aware of the serious dangers of drowning. No child, even one that knows how to swim, is immune to a drowning accident.
Incidence of Child Drownings
Out of all the fatal and non-fatal water accidents that happen each year, children are a particularly at-risk group. Drowning used to be the fourth leading cause of unintentional death for children under 5; a 2008 press release from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports that drowning has now increased to the #1 cause of accidental child death.
Other statistics from the CPSC release and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) find that:
- 1 in 4 fatal drowning accidents involve children 14 and under.
- For every child that dies, another 4 are treated in the emergency room for submersion-related accidents, some of which cause permanent brain damage.
- From 2005 to 2007, there were an average of 283 fatal drownings for children 5 and under per year. An additional 2,100 were treated in the emergency room for submersion related injuries.
A 1994 CDC study entitled "Self-Reported Swimming Ability in U.S. Adults," younger swimmers report greater swimming proficiency than older respondents. Kids tend to overestimate their swimming ability and get into situations that they can't yet handle. Young children are often unable to imagine harm or injury coming to themselves and may see themselves as "invincible."
Dangers of Backyard Swimming Pools
Most child drowning and submersion incidents involve swimming pools, with residential or backyard swimming pools posing the greatest danger. Lack of adequate parental supervision, combined with the fact that children slip out of the house unnoticed and end up in the pool, account for this fact.
According to a CPSC publication called "How to Plan for the Unexpected: Preventing Child Drownings," 77% of home drowning victims had been missing for 5 minutes or less when they were found in the backyard swimming pool, and 70% were not expected to be in or near the pool area at the time.
Other Home Drowning Risks
The overwhelming majority of drownings and submersion incidents reported by the CPSC involved swimming pools, but even households without a full-size swimming pool are not safe from child drowning. Children between the ages of 1 and 2 are at the most risk for the 150 other types of drowning deaths per year involving:
- Bathtubs – Next to swimming pools, bathtubs pose the greatest home drowning risk. In 2002, the CPSC reported 69 cases of bathtub drownings in children. 80% of them were under age 2. Being with an older sibling does not substitute for parental supervision: almost 40% of bathtub drownings occurred when another child was in the tub.
- Inflatable Pools – Inflatable backyard wading pools are less than 2 feet deep, but still pose a serious drowning risk. There were 17 child drownings in inflatable pools in 2005, up from 9 in 2004 and 10 in 2003.
- Home Hot Tubs – In 2002, the CPSC reports 9 deaths involving home spas and hot tubs. Hot tubs should have a hard cover and should remain off-limits to children.
- 5-Gallon Buckets – Children can drown in as little as 2 inches of water. The CPSC reports 6 child drownings in large buckets in 2002. If a toddler falls head first into a utility bucket, he or she probably will not be able to get out.
- Toilets – Even though most parents don't consider their toilet a potential drowning hazard, the CSPC reports two child drownings in toilets in 2002. Toddlers under 3 are both curious and top-heavy by nature. Parents should keep toilet lids closed and install childproof toilet seat clips.
Other home drowning dangers include landscape or fish ponds, fountains, and outdoor trash cans.
Children and their parents are often unaware of how serious the threat of drowning can be. Children can and do drown every year in swimming pools, bathtubs, and other places, even when lightly supervised by a parent. Parents need to be vigilant about teaching pool safety rules, closely watching children in the tub or pool, and installing childproof drowning-resistant mechanisms in their homes.
Sources:
U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission
Center for Disease Control
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