After decades of decline, drowning deaths are on the rise in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Over 4,500 people died each year from drowning from 2020-2022, reported in the CDC’s Vital Signs study. The study shows drowning to be the number one cause of death for children ages 1-4. The research points out that 55% of American adults have never taken a swimming lesson, and that drowning death rates for Black people were 28% higher in 2021 than 2019.
Jon Gehlbach, MD, is the medical director of the Pediatric Critical Care Unit at OSF HealthCare Children’s Hospital of Illinois. He says swim lessons and adult supervision are two of the most important things for kids getting in the water.
“The best thing we can do to keep kids safe around the water is getting them comfortable with swim lessons. A common misconception among young, pre-swim lesson kids is that some type of flotation device is replacement for either swim lessons or adult supervision. Unfortunately, those devices aren’t really designed to keep kids safe in the water without those two other elements,” Dr. Gehlbach says.
Know CPR
In the unfortunate event your child loses consciousness underwater, Dr. Gehlbach says knowing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is of the utmost importance.
“The first thing is to make sure you’re safe getting in the water. If you can’t swim, don’t turn a single-person drowning into a 2-person drowning by trying to be a hero. Instead, get help as soon as possible. If the drowning was unwitnessed, a quick glimpse around the pool will make sure there’s not an accident like a downed powerline that provides a route for electrocution. Ensure your own safety first,” Dr. Gehlbach says. “If you can exclude that, get the child out. I strongly feel that anyone who is going to be in a scenario where there are children swimming and there’s no lifeguard present, someone needs to be CPR certified. The best chance for a drowned child to recover is fast, effective CPR.”
Time is brain
“Time is of the essence. There’s a statement in critical care that ‘time is brain.’ The longer that brain is going without oxygen, the lower chance of a meaningful neurologic recovery,” Dr. Gehlbach says. “Ten seconds is far better than thirty seconds, which is far better than a minute.”
One of the most common reasons for child drowning, Dr. Gehlbach says, is when a child enters the pool without adults even knowing.
“A lot of those are family home pools where the kid gets outside and the family is not aware, they go to look for the child, and they’re at the bottom of the pool and who knows how long they’ve been down there,” Dr. Gehlbach adds.
Drowning isn’t what it looks like on TV
“I think many people are under the false impression that when a child begins to drown that it’s a noisy event with a lot of splashing, that’s how it looks on TV,” Dr. Gehlbach says. “Unfortunately, the realistic picture is that it’s a much more quiet and non-chaotic event. They slip below the surface, they inhale a lung full of water, and there’s no splashing just a quiet sinking to the bottom.”
Dr. Gehlbach recommends swimming lessons for anyone, especially young kids. If you have a pool at home, he recommends having a four-sided fence around the pool, and having an alarm system on your door which is closest to the pool in case a child gets outside.
