THE SAD TRUTh
about drowning
Despite a diligent and caring staff, drownings continue to occur at commercial aquatic facilities at an alarming rate.
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That's because drowning is extremely difficult to detect even for trained eyes, often being silent, taking only seconds, and striking any swimmer regardless of ability.
Its results devastate the lives of the victims, their families, your staff, and your community.
DROWning FACTS
"Drowning is the second-leading cause of injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14 years. "– Safe Wise Consulting
"Any given swimming pool is nearly 100 times more likely to kill a child than any given gun."– FREAKONOMICS by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
"88% of child drownings occur under some form of supervision."– Multiple Sources including: CNN, TXDPA, YMCA Charlotte, Alabama Public Health and others.
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"For children 5 to 9 years of age and children 10 to 14 years of age, the public/community/business location accounted for the largest percentage of reported drownings."– CPSC
"Teaching a child to swim would seem to add a further layer of drowning protection. But there is no evidence that swimming ability reduces a child's chance of drowning. In fact, many of the drowned children in the CDC statistics knew how to swim."
– WebMD ( See an example of how this can be true at )
"In as little as 20 seconds a child can drown unnoticed. For an adult, it only takes about one minute." – Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
"Testing indicates that less than 10% of lifeguards would identify a submerged object within 10 seconds." – Safe Wise Consulting/ The Philadelphia Insurance Group
"Drowning is a silent killer, with the victim often unable to cry out for help, wave their arms, or even alert the person next to them of their distress." – US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
"For every fatality, 6-10 times more people suffer from permanent neurological injuries with an average lifetime care cost of over $4.5 million." – American Academy of Pediatrics
"Since 2007 the rate of drowning events continue to increase each year." – CPSC: Pool or Spa Submersion: Estimated Injuries and Reported Fatalities 2010 Report
"On average each day in the U.S. more than 1 child dies from a drowning event." – CPSC: Pool or Spa Submersion: Estimated Injuries and Reported Fatalities 2010 Report
"On average each day in the U.S. more than 11 children are injured from a drowning event."– CPSC: Pool or Spa Submersion: Estimated Injuries and Reported Fatalities 2010 Report
videos of actual drowningS.
Warning: Some content is disturbing
Victim goes unnoticed/ignored by lifeguards. Education presentation by Gareth Hedges/ Redwoods Group.
A lap swimmer begins to drown and no one notices or reacts.
A young swimmer drowns in seconds and unnoticed. An education video presented by the Redwoods Group.
© The Redwoods Group
A young swimmer drowns and no one notices.
IT HAPPENS ANYWHERE
AND AT ANYTIME.
You can now dramatically reduce risk
and increase safety for your swimmers and staff.
