EDUCATION

Child Death Review Survey Results
Nearly three-quarters (74%) of drowning victims in the reviewed deaths did not know how to swim. Seventy-three percent of victims ages 5 to 9 did not know how to swim, while only 30 percent of victims ages 10 to 14 did not know how to swim. None of the victims ages 4 and under knew how to swim.

While there is no conclusive evidence that drowning rates are higher for less experienced swimmers, swimming lessons often include survival skills training that may be useful in an emergency.

Parent and Tween Survey Results
Although 82% of parents agree that all children should take swimming lessons by age 8, nearly four in ten parents (37%) of children ages 5 to 14 report that their child has never taken lessons. In addition, 39% of tweens report that they have never taken swimming lessons. 24% of parents of children ages 5 to 9 and 11% of parents of children ages 10 to 14 report that their child is a non-swimmer or a poor swimmer.

More than half of parents (54%) believe that swimming lessons can prevent children from drowning. 63% of parents whose children have taken lessons and 65% of tweens who have taken lessons report that the instruction included some water survival skills training, such as treading water and survival floating. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that “children are generally not developmentally ready for formal swimming lessons until after their fourth birthday.”²⁶

70% of parents surveyed have been trained in infant and child CPR. Reasons for lack of training commonly cited include classes offered at inconvenient times and places (29%) or a lack of time to take classes (27%).

• Children should be enrolled in swimming lessons by age 8. Parents can check with their local department of parks and recreation or Red Cross chapter to find a certified instructor near them. Look for classes that include emergency water survival techniques training.
• Parents and caregivers should learn infant and child CPR.
• Educate children about the rules of water safety, including:
• Always swim with a buddy and an adult present;
• Never swim in an open body of water or participate in water sports without wearing a
  PFD;
• Never dive into a river, lake or ocean; and
• If someone is in trouble in the water, call for help and throw something that floats to the victim. A child should never enter the water to try to save someone.

CONCLUSIONS

• Parents are overconfident about their children’s safety and abilities around water. Although drowning is the second leading cause of injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14, more than half (55%) of parents say that they do not worry much or at all about their child drowning.

• Drownings most commonly occur in recreational settings, often pools and open bodies of water. In fact, national data suggest that more than 385 children ages 14 and under drown each year while participating in water recreation, such as swimming or boating. Nearly half of these recreational drowning deaths (49%) are among children ages 5 to 14.²⁷

• Adults must install multiple layers of protection around home pools and be consistent in using barriers that do exist. While 98 percent of pool- or spa-owning parents report they have taken adequate steps to ensure children’s safety, most responses also reflect a lack of actual environmental modifications – nearly two-thirds (61 percent) of pool- and spa-owning parents have no isolation fencing, and 43 percent have no self-closing and self-latching gate.

• Adults must increase the quality of their supervision of children around water, as nearly 9 in 10 deaths reviewed occurred while the child was being supervised. While nearly all parents said they always actively supervise their children while swimming, parents also admit to participating in a variety of distracting behaviors while supervising.

• Caregivers need to enforce the consistent use of PFDs in potentially hazardous situations. Many tweens admit that they never wear a PFD when riding a personal watercraft (50 percent), participating in water sports (37 percent) or on a boat (16 percent). While parents recognize the importance of PFD use, they do not always require their children to wear PFDs or model safe behavior for their children.

• More children should be enrolled in swimming lessons taught by a certified swimming instructor. Although the majority of parents (82%) agree that all children should take swimming lessons by age 8, 37 percent of parents of children ages 5 to 14 report that their child has never taken swimming lessons.

Click here to read the full report at Safe Kids USA website

CONTRIBUTING CHILD DEATH REVIEW TEAMS

Alabama Arizona Delaware Georgia Illinois Michigan Minnesota Missouri Montana North Dakota Nevada Oklahoma Pennsylvania South Dakota Utah Washington Wisconsin

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The National SAFE KIDS Campaign wishes to extend its appreciation to the National Center for Child Death Review and the 17 state Child Death Review teams who contributed data to this survey.

Special thanks to Johnson & Johnson for its long-standing commitment to the National SAFE KIDS Campaign and its support of this study.

SAFE KIDS also wishes to thank the members of our expert advisory panel for their contributions to this study.

Ruth Brenner, M.D., MPH
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
National Institutes of Health
Department of Health and Human Services

Rebecca Levin-Goodman, MPH
American Academy of Pediatrics

Theresa Covington, MPH
National MCH Center for Child Death Review

Greg Stockton
American Red Cross

Julie Gilchrist, M.D.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Department of Health and Human Services

Deborah Tinsworth
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Suggested Citation: Cody BE, Quraishi AY, Dastur MC, Mickalide AD. Clear danger: A national study of childhood drowning and related attitudes and behaviors. Washington (DC): National SAFE KIDS Campaign, April 2004.