Near-Drowning
Debra H. Fiser MD1
1 Associate Professor, Departments of Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, and Psychiatry, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, AR.
Definition
Drowning is defined as death caused by submersion, whereas near-drowning connotes survival for some time period following submersion. The following remarks pertain to the near-drowning victim who presents for acute medical management.
Epidemiology
Because reporting of near-drowning incidents is incomplete, most of the available epidemiologic information focuses on drowning deaths, which number more than 6500 per year in the United States. Data from King County, Washington, however, suggest that near-drownings slightly out-number drownings. Drowning rates are highest for children under the age of 5 years and between the ages of 15 and 24 years. Males drown 4 times more frequently than females. African-Americans and low-income groups also are affected disproportionately, except for those drownings involving boats and residential swimming pools, which more often are owned by middle class groups.
Drownings peak during the summer months and are most common in the southern and western United States and Alaska. Forty to 45% of all drownings occur while the victim is swimming and 12% to 29% are boat-related. Alcohol plays a substantial role in these deaths.
Between one half and three quarters of all drownings occur in lakes, ponds, rivers, and the ocean. More than 40% of all submersions in these bodies of water involve older adolescents or young adults.
