Water Safety Statistics
Many national and international organizations have studied varied aspects of drowning, and have gathered data on victim demographics, frequency of occurrence, and environmental factors. Following are links to these organizations, as well as some highlights of their research findings. We hope you find this information helpful. If you have questions or additional facts that you believe should be added to this list, please contact us.
Numbers
#1
cause of death for children under age 4.
11
fatal drownings per day in the US.
4000
drowning deaths each year.
8000
ER visits for non-fatal drowning.
Percentages
40%
of non-fatal drownings require hospitalization or long-term care.
49%
of home pool accident sites are inground pools.
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Consumer Product Safety Commission
50%
of adults have had a drowning scare in their lifetime.
60%
of child drownings occur in swimming pools.
65%
of accidents are in a pool owned by the victim's immediate family.
​
Consumer Product Safety Commission
66%
of parents do not know that drowning is a leading cause of child death.
​
Safety Kids Coalition
70%
of children who drown at home are not expected to be near the pool.
​
Consumer Product Safety Commission
75%
of children who drowned are under the care of one or both parents at the time.
​
Consumer Product Safety Commission
80%
of fatal drownings are male.
94%
of parents admit to doing other things while supervising children swimming.
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Safety Kids Coalition
Time
A drowning person can submerge in
20-60 seconds
Many children who drown in home pools are out of sight for less than
5 minutes
Other
1 in 4
people personally know someone who drowned.
of parents say they don't worry about their child drowning.
More than half
