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Writer's pictureannamariaebersole
Dec 17, 20232 min read

Drowning Prevention and Water Safety

Updated: Feb 19

In this blog post I wanted to address how important preventing drowning is for kids of all ages and how leaving kids unattended nears pools or water can be very harmful.



How does drowning affect children in the United States?

  • Ten people die each day from unintentional drowning, and about 2 of them are under 14.

  • Among those 1 to 14, drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related deaths other than motor-vehicles.

  • Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4.


Drowning risks vary by race and household income

  • 64% of African-American, 45% of Hispanic/Latino, and 40% of Caucasian children have little to no swimming skills.

  • African-American children ages ranging from 5 to 19 drown in swimming pools at rates 5.5 times higher than those of Caucasian children in the same age range.

  • 79% of children in households with incomes less than $50,000 have little to no swimming skills.



5 tips for Drowning Prevention (Cleveland Clinic)


Prevention Methods/Water Safety

  • Barriers and alarms: helps to prevent children from accessing water unsupervised

  • Supervision: stay aware of your surroundings and your kids surroundings (keep children within arms reach, use scanning techniques to make sure all the kids are not drowning, and never leave a kid unattended)

  • Water competency: every child should be able to protect themselves in water by learning basic swimming skills and safety concepts

  • Life Jackets (should be cost-guard approved and sized for each passenger)

  • Emergency Preparation: preparing for the worst is one of the best ways to prevent someone drowning in the water, prepare with life rings, people learning CPR, etc...

  • Buddy System: always swim with a buddy or close to other people


For more information:


Additional Child Safety Resource:

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