Drowning

• Drowning Overview
• Drowning Causes
• Drowning Symptoms
• When to Seek Medical Care
• Exams and Tests
• Drowning Treatment
• Self-Care at Home
• Medical Treatment
• Next Steps
• Follow-up
• Prevention
• Outlook
• Support Groups and Counseling
• For More Information
• Web Links
• Synonyms and Keywords
• Authors and Editors

Drowning Overview

Drowning is death by suffocation that occurs within the first 24 hours after being submerged in water. Near drowning is survival or temporary survival that lasts longer than the 24-hour period after submersion. For every drowning, there are 4 near drownings. Most drownings occur within a short distance of safety and can be prevented.

• Who is likely to drown, when, and where?
  
  
  • Drowning claims nearly 8,000 lives annually. It is the fourth leading cause of accidental death in the United States. For children, it is the second leading cause of accidental death for school-age children and the number one cause for preschoolers.
    
    
  • Two-thirds of drownings happen in the summer months: 40% occur on Saturday and Sunday. Some 90% occur in fresh water even in states with large coastal regions. More than half of these cases occur in home swimming pools.
    
    
  • One-quarter to one-third of the drowning victims had swimming lessons. Although drowning equally affects both sexes, males have a rate 3 times higher than females because of increased reckless behavior and use of alcohol.
    
    
  • Children less than age 1 year tend to drown in bathtubs and buckets because they are not coordinated enough to get out by themselves when they fall in. Older children age 1-4 drown in swimming pools, while those age 5-14 years tend to drown in lakes, ponds, rivers, and oceans. The adolescents and adults tend to drown because of impaired swimming ability from alcohol or illicit drug use.
    
    
  • States with the highest drowning rate are Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oregon, and Florida.
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• Types of drowning
  
  
  • Dry drowning occurs 10-15% of the time and is caused when water-induced spasm of the air passage prevents oxygen from reaching the lungs. Wet drowning is caused by inhaling large amounts of water into the lungs.
    
    
  • Also, fresh water drowning differs from salt water drowning in terms of the mechanism for causing suffocation. Only a small amount of either kind of water is needed to damage the lungs and interfere with the body's ability to breathe. If fresh water is inhaled, it passes from the lungs to the bloodstream and destroys red blood cells. If salt water is inhaled, the salt causes fluid from the body to enter the lung tissue displacing the air.
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• Mammalian dive reflex: Drowning suffocation causes a lack of oxygen, resulting in death in only a few minutes. An exception to this rule appears in victims who have been suddenly and rapidly submerged into ice-cold water (< 32 ºF). Some of these people have survived up to an hour underwater without any physical damage resulting. This phenomenon is known as the mammalian dive reflex, which is activated when the face and body plunge into ice-cold water, resulting in the slowing of body metabolism as well as diverting blood only to the heart, lungs, and brain. If someone gradually becomes hypothermic (gradual lowering of body temperature), then this reflex does not apply. With the slowing of body metabolism as the body cools, the body uses less oxygen to survive. The goal is to rescue these victims before their oxygen is used up.