If you are under water long enough, your lungs fill with water and oxygen cannot get into your blood. A lack of blood oxygen can cause brain damage and death. Water in the lungs, especially contaminated water, can damage the lungs.
People can drown in as little as an inch or two of water. Babies can drown in a sink or bathtub. Most preschooler drownings occur in swimming pools. People who have seizure disorders are also at risk in the water. Drowning can happen quickly and silently.
Drowning precautions should include
- Fences around pools
- Supervising children near any body of water, including tubs
- Not swimming or boating when under the influence of alcohol or sedatives
- Wearing life jackets when boating
- Learning CPR
- Near Drowning(Merck & Co., Inc.) - http://www.merck.com/mmhe/print/sec24/ch294/ch294a.html
- Water Safety Facts(Emergency Nurses Association) - Links to PDF - http://www.ena.org/ipinstitute/fact/ENAIPFactSheet-WaterSafety.pdf
- Swimming Lessons Do Not Increase Drowning Risk in Young Children(03/02/2009, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) - http://www.nih.gov/news/health/mar2009/nichd-02a.htm
- Swimming Lessons Don't Increase Drowning Risk, Study Says(03/02/2009, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_81204.html
- CPR(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/emergencies/cpr.html
- Beach and Surf Safety(American College of Emergency Physicians) - http://www3.acep.org/patients.aspx?id=26164
- Drowning Prevention(Consumer Product Safety Commission) - http://www.cpsc.gov/nsn/drowning.html
- Pool and Spa Safety Publications(Consumer Product Safety Commission) - http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/chdrown.html
- Water Safety and Swimming Lessons for Children(American Medical Association) - Links to PDF - http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/163/3/288.pdf
- Water Safety Campaign(Safe Kids Worldwide) - http://www.usa.safekids.org/water/index.html
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Drowning(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Drowning%22
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: The "window of opportunity:" helping parents make the most difficult... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19326316&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Water safety and swimming lessons for children. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19255402&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Association between swimming lessons and drowning in childhood: a case-control... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19255386&tool=MedlinePlus
- Drowning -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=drowning[majr]+OR+near-drowning[majr]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+NOT+(editorial[pt]+OR+letter[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- Consumer Product Safety Commission - http://www.cpsc.gov/
- National Center for Injury Prevention and Control(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/injury/
- Water-Related Injuries(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Water-Safety/waterinjuries-factsheet.htm
- Child Safety: How to Prevent Drowning(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/child-safety/CC00045/METHOD=print
- Household Safety: Preventing Drowning(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/home/safety_drowning.html
- Swimming(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/kid/watch/out/water.html
- CPR - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/cpr.html
- Water Safety (Recreational) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/watersafetyrecreational.html
- Injuries and Wounds - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/injuriesandwounds.html