Tips to prevent children from drowning

Temple University School of MedicineJul 21 2010

As temperatures continue to rise across the country, more and more parents will no doubt take their children to the nearest pool to cool off. Yet every year in the U.S., about 500 children five-years-old and younger drown in swimming pool mishaps.

Since the beginning of the summer season, several reports of children drowning have emerged; a two-year old girl drowned in a pool in Laurel, Del., an 18 month old boy nearly drowned in an unguarded pool in Staten Island, and most notably, Christian Cunningham, the 2 ½ year old son of former professional football player Randall Cunningham, drowned in the family hot tub late last month.

Joseph Torg, an adjunct professor of orthopedics and sports medicine at Temple University School of Medicine, says that because toddlers have very different drowning mechanisms than do adults, prevention depends on an understanding of how drowning can happen.

"Contrary to popular movie depictions of a drowning person who flails about and calls for help, children just sink and drown," says Torg. "It happens quickly, silently, and without notice. Once submerged, children become disoriented and oblivious to the change in environment from air to liquid."

To prevent such tragedies, Torg suggests the following:

•Be aware. Keep an eye on children at all times, especially in crowded swimming pools,
•Teach children to swim by age five,
•Keep pools secured by gates, fences and/or pool covers,
•Restrict non-swimmers to wading pools, or outfit them with Coast Guard-approved personal flotation devices

Torg adds that with regard to bodies of water with tidal currents such as streams and rivers, all swimmers regardless of age or experience should wear Coast Guard-approved personal flotation devices. Ocean swimming should be limited to beaches protected by life guards.

"With regard to pools, hot tubs, ponds, streams and rivers, the adage 'An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,' is a gross understatement," he says. "With drowning, there is no cure."