Drowning

Drowning is the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion or immersion in liquid. Not all drownings are fatal.

• Fatal drowning happens when the drowning results in death.
• Nonfatal drowning happens when a person survives a drowning incident with a range of outcomes, from no injuries to very serious injuries or permanent disability.
  Nonfatal drowning can result in long-term health problems and costly hospital stays.

SWIMMING and PEOPLE OF COLOR

Swimming is a global sport with millions of people participating worldwide, but:
IN THE UNITED STATES. ONLY 1% OF ALMOST 400.000 SWIMMERS REGISTERED WITH USA SWIMMING ARE AFRICAN
AMERICAN." (Source: USA SWIMMING FOUNDATION)

The Modern Olympic
Games have been happening since 1896, and the USA’s first African
American Olympic swimmer was in the 2000 Games.
According to a 2017 report from the USA Swimming Foundation, 64% of African American children surveyed (ages 4-18) reported that they had no or low swimming ability, compared to 45% of Hispanic children and 40% of white children.

A MAJOR PART OF THIS PROBLEM IS A HISTORICAL LACK OF ACCESSIBILITY TO AQUATICS FOR BLACK ATHLETES

WHY DO MANY AFRICAN AMERICANS NOT LEARN TO SWIM?
"Pools have been a site of racial tension for decades. In the United States, many pools and beaches in the 1940s, 50s and 60s boasted "Whites Only" signs, barring black people from visiting." When, for 30 years, black people weren't allowed to swim, it created a cycle of a lack of ability to swim.

SWIMMING IS A PRIVILEGE
From the 1970s to the 1990s, many cities in the United States stopped building new public pools, which caused expensive, membership based private pools to grow in popularity. As a result, swimming became a privilege.

According to the Economic Policy Institute's
2019 State of Working America Wages Report, African-Americans make an average of 27.5-percent less than white Americans. If a black family couldn't afford a private pool's membership fee, didn't live near a public pool, and didn't have the transportation to get to a public pool, swimming wasn't an option.
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Some people have a higher risk of drowning.
Children ages from 1 to-4 have the highest drowning rates. Most drownings in children from one to four happen in swimming pools.
Drowning can happen anytime, including when children are not expected to be near water, such as when they gain unsupervised access to pools. Fatal drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional injury death behind motor vehicle crashes for children ages one to fourteen.
Nearly 80-percent of people who die from drowning are male. Many factors might contribute to higher rates of drowning among males, including increased exposure to water, risk-taking behaviors, and alcohol use.
Some racial and ethnic groups Drowning death rates for American Indian or Alaska Native people ages 29 and younger are 2 times higher than the rates for White people, with the highest disparities among those ages 25-29 (rates 3.5 times higher).
Drowning death rates for Black people are 1.5 times higher than the rates for White people. Disparities are highest among Black children ages 5-9 (rates 2.6 times higher) and ages 10-14 (rates 3.6 times higher).
In swimming pools, Black children ages 10-14 years drown at rates 7.6 times higher than White children. Black children and youth are more likely to drown in public pools, and white children and youth are more likely to drown in residential pools.11 In natural water, American Indian or Alaska Native people have the highest drowning death rates, with rates 2.7 times higher than White people.
People with seizure disorders, such as epilepsy, are at a higher risk of fatal and nonfatal drowning than the general population. Drowning is the most common cause of unintentional injury death, with the bathtub being the most common site of drowning for people with seizure disorders.
Other medical conditions such as autism and heart conditions are associated with a higher risk of drowning.

Certain factors make drowning more likely.

Not being able to swim
Many adults and children report that they can't swim or that they are weak swimmers. Participation in formal swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning among children and young adults.
Missing or ineffective fences around water Barriers such as pool fencing prevent young children from gaining access to the pool area without caregivers' awareness.
A four-sided isolation fence which separates the pool area from the house and yard reduces a child's risk of drowning by 83% compared to three-sided property-line fencing (which encloses the entire yard, but does not separate the pool from the house).
Lack of close supervision
https://www.cdc.gov/drowning/facts/index.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Drowning Facts
Drowning is a leading cause of death for children.
What is drowning?
In the United States:

More children ages 1-4 die from drowning than any
other cause of death except birth defects. For children ages from one to fourteen, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death after motor vehicle crashes.

While children are at highest risk, anyone can drown.

Every year in the United States there are an estimated:
3,960* fatal unintentional drownings, including
boating-related drowning-that is an average of 11 drowning deaths per day.
8,080 nonfatal drownings—that is an average of 22 nonfatal drownings per day.

For every child who dies from drowning, another
eight receive emergency department care for non fatal drowning. More than 40% of drownings treated in emergency departments require hospitalization or transfer for further care (compared with 8% for all unintentional injuries). Drowning injuries can cause brain damage and other serious outcomes, including long-term https://www.cdc.gov/drowning/facts/index.html