Drowning - near

• Avoid drinking alcohol whenever swimming or boating.
• Drowning can occur in any container of water. Do not leave any standing water (in empty basins, buckets, ice chests, kiddy pools, or bathtubs). Secure the toilet seat cover with a child safety device.
• Fence all pools and spas. Secure all the doors to the outside, and install pool and door alarms.
• If your child is missing, check the pool immediately.
• Never allow children to swim alone or unsupervised regardless of their ability to swim.
• Never leave children alone for any period of time or let them leave your line of sight around any pool or body of water. Drownings have occurred when parents left "for just a minute" to answer the phone or door.
• Observe water safety rules.
• Take a water safety course.

Richards DB, Knaut AL. Drowning. In: Marx JA, Hockberger RS, Walls RM, et al, eds. Rosen’s Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby Elsevier; 2009:chap 143.

Images

Drowning rescue on ice, board assist

Drowning rescue, reaching assist

Drowning rescue, board assist

Drowning rescue, throw assist

Heimlich maneuver on adult

Drowning rescue on the ice, human chain

Previous Section

Near drowning Treatment

Review Date: 01/04/2011
Reviewed By: Jacob L. Heller, MD, MHA, Emergency Medicine, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, Washington. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)