Alarming facts about swimming pool accidents
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regularly compiles data about swimming pool and spa submersion accidents. The following information highlights the risks posed by swimming pools throughout the U.S.:
- We lose 9 people every day to drowning fatalities.
- In drowning deaths of children, 19 percent occur in public swimming pools where certified lifeguards are posted.
- On average, 15 people are hospitalized each day for submersion/drowning accidents. Annually, about 5,400 of these victims are children under the age of 15 years. Twenty percent experience a permanent neurological disability, while 15 percent of these drowning injuries lead to death.
- Children between the ages of 1 and 4 years are of particular risk of drowning, as it is the number one cause of injury-related accidental death in this age group. Most of these submersion accidents occur in home swimming pools, and portable pools represent 11 percent of all pool drownings in this group.
- Drowning is also a grave danger to those between 1 and 14 years of age, coming in second as a leading cause of injury-related accidental death for these children.
- Between 2013 and 2017, 45 percent of all reported circulation entrapment accidents occurred in public swimming pools or spas, while 55% occurred in residential locations. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that nearly 20% of these incidents resulted in death.
Common swimming pool accident causes
One of the great tragedies regarding swimming pool accidents is that they are largely preventable nature. In most cases, adequate supervision, basic barriers or even swimming lessons can prevent a swimming pool accident and the resulting injuries. Common causes of swimming pool incidents include:
- Inadequate or non-existent fencing/barriers – Appropriate barriers that isolate a swimming pool on all four sides have been shown to decrease submersion accident injuries by 50 to 90 percent.
- Failure to supervise – In close to 90 percent of drowning deaths in children, a caregiver or parent claimed to be watching the victim.
- Inability to swim – The risk of drowning can be reduced by nearly 90% among young children between 1 and 4 by participating in formal swimming lessons.
- Inadequate safety features – In addition to 4-sided fences, door alarms, gates and pool covers can greatly reduce the number of pool-related injuries and deaths. Most children found submerged in a residential swimming pool weren’t even expected to be near the pool and were only missing for about five minutes.
- Faulty or malfunctioning swimming pool equipment – The damage caused by entrapment in a drain or circulation pump can be particularly devastating.
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