New drowning prevention recommendations released ahead of the summer swimming season

The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued new guidelines to prevent drownings as the summer swimming season approaches. The new recommendations, released on Monday, say the update addresses ‘widening disparities in fatal paediatric drowning rates based on race and ethnicity’.

The new recommendations come in the wake of the death of an 18-year-old in an apparent drowning while swimming with friends on Saturday in Shelter Island, New York, the Shelter Island Police Department said in a news release.Drowning is the leading cause of death in children between the ages of 1 and 4, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the US, about 4,000 people die from drowning each year, the agency states.According to the agency, drowning incidents are higher in certain racial groups. For example, Black people under the age of 30 are more than 1.5 times as likely to drown as white people under 30. American Indian and Alaska Native people under 30 are twice as likely to drown compared with their white counterparts.Among children and youth, drowning has the highest case-fatality rate, at 13%, after firearm injuries, the AAP noted.

Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury or death in the US in children aged 5 to 14 years, after motor vehicle injuries and deaths, the AAP adds.‘Toddlers are at the highest risk of drowning, as they can escape without notice even under the best of circumstances. Adolescents are also especially vulnerable since they may overestimate their swimming skills, misjudge the seriousness of water hazards, or engage in risky and impulsive behaviours,’ Dr Rohit P.

Shenoi, lead author of the new recommendations, said in a statement.The AAP also emphasised that multiple layers of prevention are necessary, because ‘no single method is effective in preventing drowning’. ‘Proven drowning prevention strategies include four-sided isolation pool fencing with functioning self-closing and self-latching gates; close, constant, attentive and competent supervision; swimming competency; life jacket use when boating; and early rescue and resuscitation of persons who have drowned.

Clinicians have an important role in preventing drowning by providing age- and content-specific anticipatory guidance to their patients and by involving families, community partners and public health officials when advocating for the implementation of evidence-based drowning countermeasures and culturally affirming aquatic policies in their community.’The latest recommendations highlight six key points for parents and caregivers.