Drowning Prevention & Water Safety, Children Ages Birth to 19 Years
What are the leading causes of drowning in children?
- Lack of adult supervision around water, pools, bathtubs, and buckets/pails of water.
- Pools that do not have four-sided fencing that isolates a home swimming pool from the house.
- Children swimming alone or children wandering into water.
- Swimming in public areas where there are no lifeguards.
- Not using approved life jackets while swimming and boating.
Are there any laws about swimming pools that I should know about?
New York State law requires all public swimming pools built after March 30, 1998, to be enclosed within a fence or other barrier which is at least four feet high and can be entered by bathers only through self closing and positive self-latching doors or gates.
What can I do to keep my child safe around water and prevent drowning?
- Always supervise young children while in a bathtub. Never leave younger children alone around water in the care of older siblings. Children can drown in as little as two inches of water.
- Make sure that toilet seat covers are left down and pails or buckets of water are emptied as soon as possible and not left unattended.
- Children and teens should not engage in risk taking behavior, like rough play while swimming or boating. These activities lead to many drowning or near drowning injuries.
- Make sure your child is aware that open waters, such as lakes, rivers and oceans have currents, rocks and uneven surfaces, which may be unfamiliar and pose hazards to swimmers.
- Make sure your child never swims alone, especially in unfamiliar water.
- Teach your child how to swim. Not being able to swim (or overestimating swimming abilities) may lead to injuries. However, knowing how to swim alone does not prevent drowning.
- If your child has a medical condition, such as a seizure disorder or heart condition, make sure he or she takes special care when swimming. Drowning is the most common cause of unintentional injury death for persons with seizures.
- Water temperature is an important factor that contributes to drowning as cold water can lead to hypothermia, or lowered body temperature.
What are some other safety tips that I should be aware of besides close adult supervision?
- The use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), first aid and calling 911 can save a life and minimize injury. The use of the Heimlich Maneuver (abdominal thrusts) is not recommended for use with potential drowning victims as a first line therapy; it may delay the onset of CPR and may induce vomiting and choking on stomach contents.
- Personal floatation devices (life jackets) should be approved and should not take the place of adult supervision. Air-filled swimming aids, such as water wings and floats, should not to be used in place of approved personal floatation devices.
- Pool alarms and pool covers should not be used in place of a four-sided fence because they are not likely to be used appropriately and consistently. Some types of pool covers present an additional hazard for young children. A young child could be trapped under non-rigid pool covers or try to walk on the pool surface and fall into the pool.
Where can I find more information on water safety and drowning prevention?
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Children's Safety Network
- Data/Statistics
To request data related to this topic, please send an email to injury@health.ny.gov. - National Safety Council
- Safe Kids Worldwide
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission