It can be fast, quiet, and unexpected. It doesn’t typically happen the way it looks in movies. Drowning is the leading cause of death from injuries in children ages 1-4 years. Unfortunately, here in Florida we’re ranked among the states with the highest rates of Pediatric drowning deaths. There have been over 400 deaths per year in Florida alone from drowning.

While working in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in Residency, I had more than one patient that was admitted as a result of a near drowning. One such patient was a 1 year-old who was taking a bath with his older brother in the bathtub. His mother stepped away for a few seconds to get his towel, hoping that his older (3 year-old) brother would watch him. The mother came back to find him face-down and unresponsive in the tub. She called 911, but didn’t know CPR. Waiting for the ambulance to come to rescue her poor boy was the worst few minutes of her life. Listening to this mother’s story, I could feel her unspeakable pain. We all think of drownings as happening at the beach or swimming pool. You never think that it could happen inside your own home.

Here’s a summary of the American Academy of Pediatric’s (AAP) recently updated recommendations on ways to prevent drowning in children.

Prevention

Supervision

The AAP describes adequate supervision as “close, constant and attentive supervision of young children around any water”. This is probably the easiest way to prevent drowning deaths. Whenever children are around water, there should be an adult “Water Watcher”. This person is responsible for watching the pool at all times – not scrolling through their facebook feed, not talking to a friend – but intently watching the children in and around the pool. If there are multiple adults around, they can all take turns being the “Water Watcher”. If you want to be fancy, there are even “Water Watcher” tags from safekids.org that the designated adult can wear, so that everyone knows who that person is at any given time. Never leave your children alone near water, even for a moment!

But what if your child slips away when they’re not expected to be near water? What if there’s no adult around? It’s important to think ahead for these unexpected events and to have precautions in place.

Precautions in the home

Infants and toddlers are more likely to drown in bathtubs and buckets. It’s important to keep these areas off limits to them. Make sure that there are no areas of standing water in your house at any time. Watch young children around toilets too – little ones always find a way to get themselves into trouble!

Pool barrier

If you have a pool at home, it’s important to have a pool gate that completely separates the pool from the house. The pool should be surrounded on all 4 sides by the gate. The gate should also be self-closing and self-locking, so that your children are still safe if someone forgets to close the gate. If you have family members who own a pool, and your children visit them frequently, I would advise that they have a pool gate as well.

Swimming lessons

Swim lessons have been shown to decrease the rates of drowning deaths in children. Children should be able to enter the water, come up to the surface, turn around, swim for at least 25 yards and then leave the water. But, even children who know how to swim can drown. So all children should be supervised around water at all times. Parents are included in the swimming lessons recommendation, because the reality is that if you can’t swim as a parent, it’s much harder to save your child from drowning!

Be Ready

CPR

No one ever wants to be stuck having to pull a child from a body of water. But you never know when it can happen to you. So you have to be prepared. Everyone should know CPR. You can truly save a child’s life by starting CPR, while someone else calls 911. The few minutes before the ambulance arrives can be so critical – to get their heart beating or to get them breathing again. It’s also important to always have a phone on hand, as well as life-saving equipment such as life buoys, life jackets and a reach tool.

Life Jackets

Life jackets also save lives. Small children and those who do not know how to swim should wear life jackets whenever they’re near or in water. Everyone should wear a life jacket when on a watercraft (boat, jet ski, etc). It’s especially important for adults, so that they can be ready to help the kids in case of an emergency.

Believe me, I never want to witness another family suffer because of a child drowning. It’s a tough situation to deal with as a physician, but I know it’s especially hard on the parents. Please, please, please do what you can to keep children safe around water. Enjoy your time with your family and stay safe!

Do you have any other recommendations on ways to prevent drowning in children? Leave them in the comments below!

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