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Water-Related Injuries
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Water-Related Injuries: Fact Sheet

 
Overview 

Featured Observances

National Safe Boating Week

Healthy and Safe Swimming
  • In 2000, there were 3,281 unintentional drownings in the United States, averaging nine people per day. This does not include drownings in boating-related incidents (CDC 2003).
     
  • For every child who drowns, three receive emergency department care for non-fatal submersion injuries. More than 40% of these children require hospitalization (CDC 2003). Nonfatal incidents can cause brain damage that result in long-term disabilities ranging from memory problems and learning disabilities to the permanent loss of basic functioning (i.e. permanent vegetative state).


Groups at Risk

  • Males: In 2001, males accounted for 78% of drownings in the United States (CDC 2003).
     
  • Children: In 2001, 859 children ages 0 to 14 years died from drowning (CDC 2003). While drowning rates have slowly declined (Branche 1999), drowning remains the second-leading cause of injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14 years (CDC 2003).
     
  • African Americans: During 2000–2001, the overall age-adjusted drowning rate for African Americans was 1.4 times higher than for Whites (CDC 2003). However, these rates vary by age. During this time, African American infants under one year had a drowning rate 1.9 times the rate of White infants (CDC 2003). Most infants drowned in bathtubs, toilets, or household buckets. Among children 1 to 4 years of age, African Americans had a lower drowning rate than Whites. Drownings in this age group typically happened in residential swimming pools. African American children ages 5 to 19 years drowned at 2.6 times the rate of White children in this age group during 2000–2001 (CDC 2003). As children get older, drownings often occur in open water areas such as ponds, lakes, and rivers.  

featured data resources

WISQARS
Allows you to create and download reports on injury mortality and nonfatal injury for a wide range of age groups  

Injury Maps
Allows you to create and download maps of U.S. injury mortality rates

Risk Factors

  • Children under age one most often drown in bathtubs, buckets, or toilets (Brenner et al. 2001).
     
  • Among children ages 1 to 4 years, most drownings occur in residential swimming pools (Brenner et al. 2001). Most young children who drowned in pools were last seen in the home, had been out of sight less than five minutes, and were in the care of one or both parents at the time (Present 1987).
     
  • Alcohol use is involved in about 25% to 50% of adolescent and adult deaths associated with water recreation (Howland et al. 1995; Howland and Hingson 1988). Alcohol influences balance, coordination, and judgment, and its effects are heightened by sun exposure and heat (Smith and Kraus 1988).
     
  • Boating carries risks for injury. In 2002, the U.S. Coast Guard received reports for 5,705 boating incidents; 4,062 participants were reported injured and 750 killed in boating incidents. Most boating fatalities from 2002 (70%) were caused by drowning and the remainder were due to trauma, hypothermia, carbon monoxide poisoning, or other causes. Alcohol was involved in 39% of reported boating fatalities. Open motor boats were involved in 41% of all reported incidents, and personal watercraft were involved in another 28% (USCG 2002).

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References

Branche CM. What is happening with drowning rates in the United States? In: Fletemeyer JR and Freas SJ, editors. Drowning: New perspectives on intervention and prevention. Florida: CRC Press LLC; 1999.

Brenner RA, Trumble AC, Smith GS, Kessler EP, Overpeck MD. Where children drown, United States, 1995. Pediatrics 2001;108(1):85–9.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [Online]. (2003). National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (producer). [cited 2003 Dec 31]. Available from URL: www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars

Howland J, Hingson R. Alcohol as a risk factor for drownings: A review of the literature (1950–1985). Accid Anal Prev 1988;20(1):19–25.

Howland J, Mangione T, Hingson R, Smith G, Bell N. Alcohol as a risk factor for drowning and other aquatic injuries. In: Watson RR, editor. Alcohol and accidents. Drug and Alcohol Abuse Reviews. Vol 7. New Jersey, Humana Press, Inc.; 1995.

Present P. Child drowning study. A report on the epidemiology of drowning in residential pools to children under age five. Washington (DC): Consumer Product Safety Commission (US); 1987.

Smith GS, Kraus JF. Alcohol and residential, recreational, and occupational injuries: A Review of the epidemiologic evidence. Annu Rev of Public Health 1988;9:99–121.

U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security (US). Boating Statistics [online]. 2002. [cited 2004 Feb 24]. Available from URL: http://www.uscgboating.org/statistics/accident_stats.htm.

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