Dr. Patrick Mularoni, Medical Director of Sports Medicine at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, goes in-depth on water safety for the summer.
The U.S. generally has about 4,000 drowning deaths per year, but that number has risen dramatically over the past four years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
After decades of decreasing drowning rates, deaths jumped by 500 – more than 10% – in 2020, the CDC said in a recent report. An average of 4,500 Americans died by drowning annually from 2020 through 2022.
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Breaking down the numbers
The most radical jump was among young kids. Death rates for kids 1- to 4-year-olds soared 28.9% in 2021 compared to 2019, which is indicative of the long-term average. Drowning was already the leading cause of death for kids between 1 and 4 years old.
The number of children who die by drowning each year could fill 11 school buses, according to the National Drowning Prevention Alliance. For every fatal drowning, there are 7 to 8 victims seen in emergency rooms for non-fatal drownings.
The rate also jumped by 31.3% in 2020 for young adults between 15 and 24 years old. Drowning is a top three killer for Americans between the ages of 5 and 34.
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File: A boy cools off in a swimming pool in Texas.
(SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP / Getty Images)
For seniors through age 74, the rate rose by 19.1% in 2022. The rate exploded by 49.8% for seniors older than 85 in 2021.
The CDC noted that the rate of drowning deaths for the over 65 group has been increasing for decades.
In 2021, the number of males who died from drowning jumped by 22.2%. Males steadily outpaced women in drownings by around three to one, both pre- and post-pandemic.
Drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. About 236,000 people die by drowning each year.
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File: Families and children swim in Lake Champlain July 5, 2023 in Charlotte, Vermont. New York State can be seen at the horizon line looking west (upper right) into the Adirondack Mountains.
(Robert Nickelsberg / Getty Images)
CDC analysts blame the increase in deaths on the pandemic.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, persons spent more recreational time in or near water, and availability of supervised swimming settings was limited,” the study stated.
How to stop the trend
The CDC suggested swimming lessons, including water safety skills, can reverse the upward trend.
“No one should have to lose a loved one to drowning. Improving access to effective prevention strategies, like basic swimming and water safety skills training, can reduce drowning risk,” Tessa Clemens, health scientist in CDC’s Division of Injury Prevention and lead author of the report, said in a statement.
File: Swimming in St. Paul, Minnesota.
(John Autey / MediaNews Group / St. Paul Pioneer Press / Getty Images)
The study found that 40 million Americans reported that they don’t know how to swim, 15.4% of all adults. Over half of American adults said they have never taken a swim lesson.
Understanding why people avoid the water as well as developing more culturally sensitive swim classes will be future areas of study based on this report.
“CDC’s drowning prevention experts collected high-quality drowning data to better understand how we can protect people in communities across the United States,” said the CDC’s Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry. “Understanding the barriers people face to accessing basic swimming and water safety skills training can help us better understand how to address those barriers, decrease drowning rates, and save lives.”
File: Lifeguard Kelly Thune keeps a watchful eye on the swimmers in Como Pool in St. Paul, Minnesota. pool for the past three years.
(BRUCE BISPING/Star Tribune / Getty Images)
Preventing drowning
The CDC provided the following tips to prevent drowning.
- Constantly supervise children in the water even if they have had swim lessons.
- Fully enclose pools in fences at least 4-feet tall with self-closing gates.
- Wear a life jacket while boating, regardless of age and swim ability.
- Don’t drink while swimming, boating, engaging in other water activities or supervising children.
- Learn CPR.