I am having a difficult time to get people engaged in this subject. Its quite mind boggling because I think so many just think “This is a subject that does not affect me! This is not that big of a deal like breast cancer, or child abuse, or disease, or homelessness!” So, let me be the first to say that you are sorely mistaken! See the following Statistics on this subject that does not affect you or anyone you know:
Drowning is the number two killer of children and the number one killer of children in some countries like Australia.
Children: Children ages 1-4 have the highest drowning rates. In 2014, among children 1-4 years old who died from an unintentional injury, one third died from drowning. Among children ages 1-4, most drownings occur in home swimming pools. Drowning is responsible for more deaths among children ages 1-4 than any other cause except for congenital anomalies (birth defects). Among those 1-14, fatal drowning remains the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death behind motor vehicle crashes.
Minorities: The fatal unintentional drowning rate for African Americans is significantly higher than that of caucasians across all ages. The imbalance is widest among children 5-18 years old. The imbalance is most pronounced in swimming pools. African American children ages 5-19 drown in swimming pools at rates 5.5 times higher than caucasians of the same age. This imbalance is greatest among those 11-12 years old. African Americans drown in swimming pools at rates 10 times higher than caucasians.
Young healthy swimmers- Alcohol use can increase drowning and injury by 85% and it does.
Low and middle income homes will contribute to over 90% of unintentional drowning deaths.
Males are at a double rate of mortality from drowning than females.
Other factors that create an increased risk of drowning are infants left unsupervised or alone with another child around water.
So, in conclusion, unless you have no family, no friends, no social life, and do not get wet, there is no possible way that drowning will not touch you or someone you know or know of in your lifetime. An estimated 360,000 will drown each year! The cost of drowning on the United States alone is $273,000,000 …yes I said 273 MILLION DOLLARS. But trust me when I say that is a bargain compared to the loss you feel when you lose a loved one. The hardest part about this is preventable!!! We need to develop a national water safety strategy. We need to build a consensus around solutions. We need to take strategic and effective direction. This needs to be done BEFORE you are one of us in the group affected by losing a loved one! PLEASE get involved. If you would like to sponsor us, Please contact me. If you can offer anything that may help us lower these numbers we would graciously accept it! We have spent too much time BEHIND the drowning subject and not enough in front of it. I feel that is largely due to the “that wont happen to me syndrome” . Effective action, that is the only way the statistics will decrease!
