Drowning
Facts about drowning
- The World Health Organization estimates that 372,000 people drown worldwide each year
- Drowning is among the ten leading causes of death for children and young people in every region in the world
- Males are twice as likely to drown as females
- Over half of all drowning deaths are among those aged under 25 years
- An average of 281 people die from unintentional drowning in Australia per year.
- Rivers are the leading location for drowning in Australia
- 88 people died from unintentional fatal drowning in New Zealand in 2017
Resources 
Key reports
- World Health Organization Global Report on Drowning
- World Health Organization Preventing Drowning: An Implementation Guide
- Royal Life Saving Society – Australia National Drowning Reports
- Surf Life Saving Australia Coastal Safety Report 2017
- Water Safety New Zealand 2017 Preventable Drowning Fatalities (provisional)
- Australian Water Safety Strategy 2016-2020
- Canadian Lifesaving Society Drowning Reports
- Child Drowning in Low and Middle Income Countries in Asia Reports
- Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (United States) – Water-related Injuries Publications
Fact Sheets
- Royal Life Saving Society – Australia Fact Sheets
- Child Drowning in Bangladesh Fact Sheet
- International Life Saving Federation Position Statements
- Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (United States) – Unintentional Drowning
Websites
- International Life Saving Federation
- Australian Water Safety Council
- Royal Life Saving Society – Australia
- Surf Life Saving Australia
- Water Safety New Zealand
- International Drowning Researchers’ Alliance
- SwimSafe
- Lifesaving Society Canada
- The Alliance for Safe Children
- AUSTSWIM
- Royal National Lifeboat Institute
Video Resources
- Royal Life Saving Society – Australia YouTube Channel
- Surf Life Saving Australia – YouTube Channel
- AUSTSWIM
- Royal National Lifeboat Institute – YouTube Channel
- WHO Global Report on Drowning Video
Campaigns
Keep Watch
Make It Safe: Portable Pool Safety
Respect The River
Grey Medallion
Bronze Medallion
Swim and Survive
The Talk: Drowning Prevention for Seniors
Don’t Let Your Mates Drink and Drown
Swim My Way
Rip Currents
Beach Safety
Research
Please note that this publications list is non-exhaustive and includes primarily research available from open access journals.
- Cochrane Review – Pool Fencing for preventing drowning of children
- River drowning systematic literature review
- Fatal river drowning in Australia
- Role of medical conditions in child drowning
- Drowning and the influence of hot weather
- Drowning mortality and morbidity rates in children and adolescents 9-19 years: A population based study in Queensland, Australia
- Interacting factors associated with adult male drowning in New Zealand
- Personal, social and environmental factors associated with lifejacket wear in adults and children: A systematic literature review
- Unintentional, non-fatal drowning of children: US trends and racial/ethnic disparities
- Formative research to develop theory-based messages for a Western Australian child drowning prevention television campaign: study protocol
- Using a retrospective cross-sectional study to analyse unintentional fatal drowning in Australia: ICD-10 coding-based methodologies verses actual deaths
- This Much Water: a qualitative study using behavioural theory to develop a community service video to prevent child drowning in Western Australia
- Where children and adolescents drown in Queensland: a population-based study
- Drowning in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and adolescents in Queensland (Australia)
International
- An analysis of risk factors of non-fatal drowning among children in rural areas of Guangdong Province, China: a case control study
- Drowning deaths in Sweden with emphasis on the presence of alcohol and drugs – a retrospective study, 1992-2009
- A population based study of drowning in Canada
- Randomized controlled trial on drowning prevention for parents with children aged below five years in Bangladesh: a study protocol
- Mortality among drowning rescuers in China, 2013: a review of 225 rescue incidents from the press
- A randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of a geo-specific poster compared to a general poster for effecting change in perceived threat and intention to avoid drowning ‘hotspots’ among children of migrant workers: evidence from Ningbo, China
- The epidemiology of drowning in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review
- Unintentional drowning: Role of medicinal drugs and alcohol
- Water incident related hospital activity across England between 1997/8 and 2003/4: a retrospective descriptive study
- The prevalence of naturally acquired swimming ability among children in Bangladesh: a cross sectional survey