• There is an average of 3,536 fatal unintentional drownings (non-boating related) in the United States every year.
• Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional injury death among children aged 1–4 years.
• Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death among children 5–9 years.
• More than 60% of fatal drownings of 0–4 year-olds occur in swimming pools.
• For every child who dies from drowning, another five receive emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries.
• More than 50% of drowning victims treated in emergency departments require hospitalization or transfer for further care (compared with a hospitalization rate of about 6% for all unintentional injuries). These nonfatal drowning injuries can cause severe brain damage that may result in long-term disabilities such as memory problems, learning disabilities and permanent loss of basic functioning (e.g., permanent vegetative state).
• Nearly 80% of people who die from drowning are male.
• African American children ages 5 to 19 drown in swimming pools at rates 5.5 times higher than those of whites. This disparity is greatest among those 1112 years, where African Americans drown in swimming pools at rates 10 times those of whites.
