Vigilance, knowledge key to open-water safety

After Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer, families are drawn to cooling off in pools, lakes and oceans.

Unfortunately, the risk of drowning rises with warmer weather.

Drowning is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. A new report by Safe Kids Worldwide and Nationwide’s Make Safe Happen program estimates 1,000 children drown every year, with 70 percent of the drownings taking place from May through August.

Water safety experts are not advising people to stay out of water, but to learn the lifesaving skill of swimming, and to take steps for vigilant supervision and an understanding of risks associated with swimming in pools and open water.

The study, called “The 2018

Open Safety Water Report,” reveals children are more likely to drown in open water (such as lakes, rivers and oceans) than a pool, particularly as

WATERSAFETY

they get older. For younger children ages 1-4, the majority of drownings (57 percent) occur in pools.

By the time children are 15, however, the risk of drowning in an ocean, lake or another open water is far greater. Nine percent of drownings involving 15- to 19-yearolds occur in pools, compared with 73 percent in open water, according to this study based on analyzing data on drownings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention.

Dr. Marcee White, a Washington, D.C., pediatrician and medical adviser for Safe Kids Worldwide, said swimming and playing in water is fun and great exercise, but families need to pay close attention to swimming safety — especially in open water. Along with decreased visibility, open bodies of water can have unpredictable and strong currents, and sudden drop-offs, and even experienced swimmers may struggle in the colder water of lakes and rivers.

A responsible adult should always be watching children in water, she said. They should not take their eyes off children in the water, not even for a minute. Very young children should stay within arm’s length of an adult when in and around the water. And for young children — as well as weak swimmers and nonswimmers — a Coast Guard-approved life jacket offers a lot of protection, she said.

Boys are at greatest risk of drowning: 8 in 10 open-water drowning victims are males. African-american children are also twice as likely to drown in open water than their white counterparts, according to the study.

The racial disparity also exists with swimming pools. Black children ages 5-19 drown in swimming pools at a rate more than five times that of white children, according to the CDC.