Reducing the epidemic of water deaths

Reducing the epidemic of water deaths

Dr. Jill Chasse

It’s summertime and there is water everywhere. Between lakes and pools and sprinklers in the yard, people have a ton of ways to get wet. But water can be as deadly as it is refreshing. The element of water is just as powerful as fire, but given much less respect . Water may look calm and beautiful, but it has a nasty habit of taking lives. A child can drown in merely inches of water in only seconds, and many do.

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

It is usually silent and quick and kills nearly 1,000 children every year. In March 2019, the American Academy of Pediatrics released its updated recommendations to prevent drowning in children; one month later, my son drowned. A month after that, country singer Granger Smith lost his child to drowning and last June, Olympic skier Bode Miller’s toddler girl drowned in a pool. Water deaths are rarely discussed, but they are an epidemic. No one is immune from tragedy, accidents, and mishaps, but we can reduce the risk. Knowing how to minimize the likelihood of tragedy can make a significant difference in the extremely high rate of accidental drownings for children.

Teach water awareness, water safety and swimming

As early as birth you can introduce a baby to water. Babies have amazing water reflexes, such as the bradycardic response, which slows a baby’s breathing and heart rate when submerged. This doesn’t mean a baby can instinctively swim or should be submerged, but for the first six months, innate reflexes help with adapting to the water and make later lessons easier.
By 6 months of age, there are infant swim, water acquisition, and mommy and me float classes. By the age of 1, toddlers begin to understand lesson concepts and can put them into play.

Always have close supervision

Unfortunately, even the best swimming lessons do not make a child “drown-proof.” In September of 2016, Christi Brown lost her son Judah to the water. Judah was a water baby, just like my son Devon. He had early lessons on how to swim and float and loved playing in the pool, but he slipped away from his mommy when they were having a drink and warming up in a towel. Sadly, 69% of children who drown were not supposed to be swimming at the time. Kids, especially toddlers, can wander off in the blink of an eye when your head is turned, you’re checking out at the snack bar, or chasing after a runaway ball.

Many of these deaths happen when the pool isn’t even open or nearby. Three year old Levi just split a brownie on a snack break with his mom before he wandered off. My son opened a gate and climbed into an unused pool that had rainwater in it, just feet from where I was watching him and his brothers playing in the backyard. Sometimes being present isn’t enough; 88% of drownings happen while at least one adult is present. Bode Miller’s 19 month old daughter Emeline slipped out the back door while her mom and siblings were talking inside, and fell into the pool. The nature of toddlers is to be curious and sneaky. They’re encouraged to play hide-and-seek and peek a boo, and do not yet have a strong concept of distance and direction. Children that attend picnics with tons of people present have been found in nearby streams, hot tubs, and even wash buckets in the kitchen. If you have a toddler, don’t let them out of sight.

Be aware of what drowning looks like

Even though the majority of children who drown were in the presence of an adult, we all know how fast they can wander off. It only takes 30 seconds for a child to drown. Drowning isn’t like the movies where there’s flailing and screaming. A drowning person cannot call for help or voluntarily control their arm movements or even kick in most cases. You may not hear a thing, so being attentive and aware with all your senses is absolutely vital.

Learn CPR

If a child does fall into the water, a quick response can make a difference. When a child is seen falling in or they are located immediately, resuscitation may be possible. Seconds count, so having someone trained in CPR is crucial to provide immediate resuscitation before the arrival of first responders. This event is still called drowning, even though it didn’t result in death. The terms dry-drowning, silent, active vs. passive, and secondary drowning are not accurate terms. The accepted definition, according to the CDC, The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), “Drowning is the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion/immersion in liquid.”

In some cases, a child will survive but have brain damage. There are also many cases where even immediate rescue efforts are unsuccessful. Nicole Hughes had six physicians on a summer vacation, including her son Levi’s own father, but Levi could not be saved. Sadly, my little boy could not be saved either, but I will continue to share his story to drive awareness for water safety and help save other children’s lives as a way to honor the loving memory of my son.

See the links below to learn more about water safety, #inhonorofDevonRichard

• Judah’s Story: https://judahbrownproject.org/
• Levi’s Story: https://www.levislegacy.com/
• Devon’s Story: https://jediinvalhalla.homesteadcloud.com/
• Drowning Prevention Campaigns and Information: https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/campaigns/drowning-prevention/Pages/default.aspx
• Stop Drowning Now: https://www.stopdrowningnow.org
• CDC Water Safety Fact Sheet: https://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/water-safety/waterinjuries-factsheet.html

References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.CDC Childhood Injury Report. Available: http://www.cdc.gov/safechild/Child_Injury_Data.html.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Welcome to WISQARS™. Available: https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html.

Goksor, E.; Rosengren, L.; Wennergren, G. (2002). "Bradycardic response during submersion in infant swimming". Acta Paediatr. 91 (3): 307–312.

Prevention of Drowning.Sarah A. Denny, Linda Quan, Julie Gilchrist, Tracy McCallin, Rohit Shenoi, ShabanaYusuf, Benjamin Hoffman, Jeffrey Weiss, COUNCIL ON INJURY, VIOLENCE, AND POISON PREVENTION. Pediatrics May 2019, 143 (5) e20190850;

Stop Drowning Now- https://www.stopdrowningnow.org

US Consumer Product Safety Commission. How to plan for the unexpected: preventing child drownings. Available: https://cpsc.gov/safety-education/safety-guides/pools-and-spas.

Wu Y,Huang Y, Schwebel DC,,Hu G. Unintentional child and adolescent drowning mortality from 2000 to 2013 in 21 countries: analysis of the WHO Mortality Database.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017;14(8):E875

Jill Diana Chasse, DrPH, PhD, MS, MPA
Doctor of Public Health & Epidemiologist
Hygeia Public Health
In Memory of Devon Richard