Many people don’t realize that drowning is actually one of the leading causes of death for children under the age of five. In fact, more children under five years old die from drowning than are killed in traffic accidents. Just between the years 1999 and 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that more than 46,000 people died from drowning. That comes out to more than ten people every day.
Drowning death rates have gone down for most age groups
The reality is that for most age groups, death by drowning has gone down. That’s not the case for young children. Nearly 3 out of every 100,000 children died of drowning in 2010. For girls aged one to four, drowning is the second most common form of death from unintentional injury, and for boys in the same age group drowning is the number one leading cause of death from unintentional injury.
For infants under a year old, death rates by drowning went down by almost 50% between 1999 and 2010. For kids 1 to 4 years old, it went down over 17%, and for kids 5 – 19, drowning deaths went down about 30%.
It’s not all good news though – adults 85 and over have seen drowning death rates rise by 22% between 1999 and 2005. Then from 2005 to 2010 they decreased by 35%. Then consider adults ages 45 – 84, whose death rate by drowning increased 10% over 1999 to 2010.
Be careful in and around swimming pools
The most likely spot for a child to drown is a swimming pool. Older kids and adults are much more likely to drown in natural bodies of water and infants less than a year old are most likely to drown in a bathtub – as were adults older than 85.
Experts also say that rates of drowning vary by time of day and even day of the week. On average, about 9 people die from drowning every weekday while an average of 14 people die from drowning on weekend days.
Drowning deaths are high all over the world
High rates of death by drowning are not unique to the United States. According to the World Health Organization, about 7% of injury-related deaths around the world are caused by drowning. There are several factors that can raise the chance of drowning:
- Alcohol use.
- Not being able to swim.
- Lack of pool barriers
Has a loved one died in a drowning accident?
Have you had to go through the horrified situation of living with the death of a loved one due to drowning? If so, you may have a wrongful death case. Call Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 today for your free consultation. We can assess your case and give you your options. No one wants to deal with the aftermath of a drowning. When you work with us, you’ll appreciate our compassion and our experience.
