The Swim School

ABSOLUTELY CHILLING STATISTICS

Drowning is the 2nd leading cause of accidental death in the U.S. among children under 14 and leading cause of accidental death for children age 5 and under
– American Institute for Preventive Medicine.

A child can drown in the time it takes to answer the phone
– U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Of all preschoolers who drown, 70% are in the care of one or both parents and 75% are missing from sight five minutes or less
– National Center for Injury Prevention & Control

For children under four years of age, a swimming pool is more dangerous than an automobile. In fact, children this age are 14 times as likely to drown in a pool than be killed in a motor vehicle accident. In Louisiana, 30 children less than 15-years old drowned in 1999, and almost half (47%) of those were less than five years of age.
- Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of Public Health

65% of preschooler drownings occur in the child’s home pool
and 33% at the homes of friends, neighbors or relatives
– U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

And further details:

46 percent WERE LAST SEEN IN THE HOUSE prior to being found in the pool. Of these, 15 percent were thought to be sleeping.

23 percent were last seen in the yard, porch or patio, not in the pool area. That's a total of 69 percent that were thought not to be in the pool area.

39 percent of the people responsible for supervising the child were doing chores. 18 percent socializing. 9 percent were busy on the telephone.

We have 3 of the above 911 buttons in our pool building. One press of any of the three automatically calls 9-1-1 emergency services should the need arise.

From SwimAmerica.org

Most Recent Data on Drownings:
In South Florida: From the Florida Bureau of Emergency Services.

Florida leads the nation in drownings and near drownings.
64% occur in swimming pools.
For each drowning, there are 4 near drownings and fourteen children are seen in emergency rooms.
One third of those admitted are comatose, but survive with major neurological impairment.
In 69% of the drownings, child was being supervised by one or both parents at the time.
10% were being watched by adults other than parents.
14% watched by sitters.
7% watched by siblings.
Children less than one year of age drown in bathtubs most often.
Children 2-4 drown most often in home pools.
65% of total drownings are in backyard pools.
22% in relatives pools.
11% in neighbors pools.
77% of children in drowning were seen less than 5 minutes before drowning.
69% were not thought to be in the pool area.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Total and complete attention during parental supervision. Even seconds of distraction are dangerous. Separation of house from pool by a barrier is important. "Roll over, float, yell for help" is the most important swim skill for a child to learn.

John Leonard
ASCA Executive Director