Research in the U.S. ranked drowning as the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for children ages 1 to 14. Children less than a year old are most likely to drown in bathtubs, buckets, or toilets. Children ages one to four are most likely to drown in residential swimming pools. Children need to be monitored at all times no matter the size of the pool or location where they encounter water.
Anyone can have a water-related accident and be at risk of drowning – even children who know how to swim. It is not only small children who are at risk. Males are much more likely to become victims of drowning. Risk-taking, overconfidence in swimming ability and alcohol use may play a significant role in water deaths by drowning.
In the event of a drowning, the following assistance interventions are recommended:
• Having multiple layers of safety around pool and spa areas or other open bodies of water (such as a safety net, a closed fence, a child-minder and a surface alarm) can prevent tragic accidents.
• Get the victim out of the water as soon as possible, but do not become a victim yourself. Make sure it is safe for you to enter the water first.
• Handle the victim with care. Many submersion incidents are associated with neck injuries, so keep movement to the back and neck to a minimum.
• Assess to see if the victim is awake or not.
• Check for breathing. If the victim is not breathing, administer two slow rescue breaths, ensuring that the victim’s chest just starts to rise.
• If the victim shows no response to the rescue breaths, start CPR.
• CPR is vital, even if it is an amateur administering it. Keep on doing it until someone who is trained in advanced life support arrives and can take over. All parents should learn how to administer child CPR as it does differ from adult CPR. There has also recently been a worldwide revision in the CPR technique and it is vital that
even current first aiders be retrained according to the new protocols.
• Call, or have someone call, a recognised ambulance service as early as possible during this sequence. Whoever calls for the ambulance must give the dispatcher an accurate location of the incident and a contact number at the scene. Never hang up on the operator and always return to the rescuer to inform them that you have called.
Your health and the risk of drowning
Anyone using alcohol or drugs should rather stay away from the water.
The swimmer should be aware of how his body reacts to the temperature of water. When the body gets cold blood shunts to the core, weakening arms and legs, which then lose strength of power.
A swimmer who feels tired or bloated should rather rest and stay out of the water.
