Summertime is a wonderful time of year: children and parents look forward to enjoying outdoor activities like going to the pool, lake or beach. 

Yet accidents can happen if we take a vacation from safety.  The good news is that most water tragedies are easily preventable; therefore, both parents and children need to learn the basic rules of water safety in order to stay healthy and safe this summer.

The most important bit of know-how is for everyone to learn how to swim well. Never swim alone, no matter how experienced you are; medical emergencies that require someone’s help can strike at anytime.  A few must-have tools anytime that you’re near the water are, plastic water shoes to protect your feet from the hot sand and broken shards and water in plastic bottles to keep you hydrated.   

Nationwide, drowning is the leading cause of injury-related death of children four-years-old and younger with a mortality rate of 557, which represents 20% of all deaths in this age group (National Center for Health Statistics [NCHS], 2005; National Vital Statistic Reports, 2007).

In 2006, an estimated 3,134 children between the ages of 1 and 4-years-old were treated in emergency departments for near-drowning (National Electronic Injury Surveillance System [NEISS], 2006).

Children between the ages of 1 and 4 years are most likely to drown in pools and spas (58% and 51% of children 1 to 2 years and 3 to 4 years, respectively; Brenner, Trumble, Smith, Kessler, & Overpeck, 2001). Fifty-percent of all child drowning incidents occur in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and, the District of Columbia (NCHS, 2005).

Among children under the age of 5, Florida leads the nation in drowning fatalities and near-fatalities as  compared to all other states due to its frequency of home pools (FL DOH 2006: 1,100,000)  and access to bodies of water (i.e., canals, lakes, and oceans). 

The two counties with the highest number of drowning fatalities of children under age 5, Broward and Miami-Dade, were selected by the Florida Department of Health Office of Injury Prevention to participate in a “2007 Drowning Prevention Awareness Study” commissioned by Florida Department of Health Secretary, Dr. Francois, and Deputy Secretary Humbert.

This study sought to evaluate the critical role of public health advocacy in translating research into policy, practice, and assess public opinion. English and Spanish surveys were mailed to 2,000 households with registered pools in communities with the highest incidence of drowning and nonfatal submersions, as well as the highest numbers of pools coupled with the second highest percentage of children under the age of 5.

The concept of “injury prevention and preparedness to manage emergencies” is a multi-faceted combination of actions, awareness, and behaviors that have not been addressed or understood by families. Jointly funded by the Broward and Miami-Dade County Health Departments, researchers at Nova Southeastern University’s Institute for Child Health Policy were contracted to assess child safety practices of pool owners, with an emphasis on awareness of drowning prevention practices.

Overall, there are few differences on awareness of drowning risk factors or perceptions and knowledge towards drowning prevention among families with a residential pool in selected communities.  However, when household type and pool safety practices are considered, there are differences between county and differences by households with or without children. 

Overall, households with children are better at practicing household measures and are more likely to have a pool safety fence installed.  In addition, a higher percentage of Broward County pool owners utilize more than one pool safety measure. 

The county differences may be due, in part, to the fact that a higher percentage of pools in Miami-Dade were built prior to 2000, the year residential pool safety barrier legislation was enacted. 

Through this study, it can be concluded that pool owners are well aware of the drowning risk factors and are advocates of legislating pool safety devices.  Nevertheless, there are still differences in practicing pool safety measures among subgroups within our community.   

It is our hope that the findings from this study will prove useful in guiding our collective community efforts to reach Ms. Humbert’s dream for Florida’s children ages 1 – 4” of a summer with “zero drownings”. 

Tips to prevent drowning

• Stay within an arm's reach of an inexperienced swimmer while he or she is in the water.

• Learn to swim. This includes adults and children. To find out about swimming lessons in your area, call Swim Central at 954-357-7946 (SWIM).

• Maintain constant supervision. Watch children around any water (pools, canals, rivers, oceans, bathtubs, toilets and even buckets of water) no matter how well your child can swim and no matter how shallow the water.

• Learn CPR and basic first-aid skills.

• Install four-sided isolation fencing at least five-feet high, equipped with self-closing and self-latching gates that completely surround the pool and prevent direct access from the house and yard.

• Equip doors and windows that open to the pool area with alarms.

• Don't use flotation devices as a substitute for supervision.

This blog was written by:

Deborah Ann Mulligan, MD FAAP FACEP
President, Florida Chapter AAP (2003 – 2005)
Director, Institute for Child Health Policy
Professor Pediatrics, COM
Nova Southeastern University
3200 S. University Drive, Suite 1212 HPD-EXEC
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33328
954.262.1940