After years of decline, U.S. drowning deaths are rising againExBulletin

A child watches others swim at Emancipation Pool in Houston on July 19, 2022. Brandon Bell/Getty Images .

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A child watches others swim at Emancipation Pool in Houston on July 19, 2022.

Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Drowning deaths in the United States have been declining for decades, but a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that the number of deaths has been increasing since 2020.

Although it's not exactly clear what's causing the increase, public health experts say the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may be at least partly to blame.

Adam Katchmarchi, CEO of the National Drowning Prevention Alliance (NDPA), said there were recent signs of an increase in fatal drownings, but the national numbers were grim.

“It is shocking to say the least that we have seen these dramatic increases,” Katchmarchi said.

According to the CDC report, there were approximately 4,000 accidental drowning deaths in the United States in 2019. This figure increased to more than 4,500 deaths per year in 2020, 2021 and 2022, an increase of approximately 10%. %.

During the pandemic, public pools closed and lifeguards went home

The reasons for the increase in drowning deaths are not known with certainty, but public health officials say pandemic-related lockdowns and closures have affected the way people interact with water for purposes recreational.

Tessa Clemens, a health scientist in the CDC's Division of Injury Prevention, who was lead author of the report, said in a follow-up email to NPR that the causes of the increase in deaths were ” probably complex.

“However, we know that many public pools have closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has limited the availability of swimming lessons,” Clemens said. “Once pools reopened, many facilities faced a shortage of qualified swimming instructors and lifeguards, further reducing the availability of swimming lessons and safe swimming areas.”

Bill Ramos, an associate professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health, agreed that changes in daily life in recent years have likely impacted swimming safety, and said that swimming teaching had developed before the pandemic.

“Basically the tap was turned off,” Ramos said. “The lifeguards were not trained. The children were not given swimming lessons.”

Drowning prevention experts recommend that everyone learn to swim, but the CDC report finds that about 40 million American adults don't know how to do it. And nearly 55% have never taken swimming lessons, which can be expensive and difficult to access for some people.

Ramos said he hoped the country's first national water safety plan, released last year, would help reduce the number of drownings nationwide.

Young children and the elderly are most at risk

For children ages 1 to 4, drowning is the leading cause of death, according to the CDC. This age group saw a 28% increase in drowning deaths between 2019 and 2022.

Adults 65 and older experience the second highest rate of drowning, according to the report.

There are also racial and ethnic disparities in drowning deaths. American Indians and Alaska Natives had the highest rate of drowning deaths among races and ethnic groups, followed by Black people, who experienced a 28% increase in deaths between 2019 and 2021.

“I hope this is a wake-up call for the country on several fronts,” Katchmarchi said. “I think most people sometimes fail to recognize the complexity of the drowning problem in the United States, but also the fact that it is 100% preventable and it doesn't have to be that way .”

How to stay safe

As the summer season approaches, drowning prevention advocates say there is much you can do to reduce the risk of drowning for you and your loved ones.

For backyard pools, Ramos said groups should designate a non-distracted person whose sole purpose is to keep an eye on swimmers. They can wear a tag around their neck and if they need to get up, they can give that tag to another person to make sure someone is always paying attention at the pool.

“I don't know why we haven't done it, but when it comes to lifesaving, we say the lifeguard's job is to watch over the clients. That's their No. 1 job,” Ramos said. “Maybe we should be less afraid to say this to parents and guardians.”

Katchmarchi says other critical safety measures include recommendations that everyone learn to swim and that those caring for others know how to perform CPR with rescue breaths in an emergency.

Pools should be equipped with fences and alarms, and swimmers should use life jackets in certain situations, including open water, the NDPA suggests.

A drowning can happen in less than a minute, and prevention advocates say it may not look like what people expect from TV or movies.

“It's definitely not the event we usually describe where a person is yelling and screaming and waving. That person is still what we consider a swimmer in distress,” Ramos said.

“They haven't really become active victims of drowning yet, because once you get to that point, it's a very silent act. And it doesn't take very long afterward for them to find themselves in serious trouble .”

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.npr.org/2024/05/22/1252976430/drowning-deaths-rising-swimming-pools The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

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