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 Researchers examined data on so-called open-water drownings for all
50 states from 2012 to 2017. They also looked at regulations in 30
states in 2017 for things like lifeguards, rescue equipment, warning
signs, tracking and reporting safety issues, and water quality.
States without any such regulations had open-water drowning death
rates 3 times higher among children and teens and 4.2 times higher
among non-white residents compared with states with regulations
covering all five of these things, the study found.
"While it seems obvious that requiring some kind of lifeguarding
would save some lives, what it means is that the state has committed
to lifeguarding with probable funding, education, training," said
lead study author Dr. Linda Quan of Seattle Children's Hospital and
the University of Washington School of Medicine.
"It makes real sense to me that the regulation requiring planning
and tracking with surveillance, and keeping an eye on the problem
means that the state has its finger on the pulse of the problem at
some level," Quan said by email. "In other words, drowning
prevention is on the state's radar; the more attention it gives the
problem, the more trickle-down that concern goes."
Open-water areas like lakes, rivers and oceans are the most common
sites for drownings among people over age 5, researchers note in
Injury Prevention.
States and local communities have implemented a wide range of
policies to try to minimize drownings, including marking off
designated areas for swimming and posting signs advising against
swimming when lifeguards aren't on duty. But research to date hasn't
offered a clear picture of whether legislation regulating open
waters impacts drowning rates, the study team notes.
For the current study, researchers focused on the relationship
between legislation and open-water drowning-death rates in the 20
states with the highest rates and the 10 with the lowest rates.
Between 2012 and 2017, 10,839 people drowned in open waters in these
30 states.
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The highest open-water drowning rates were primarily in northwest
and southeast, with the highest rates in Hawaii, Alaska, Idaho and
Wyoming. The lowest rates were in Rhode Island, New York and
Delaware.
Only 12 of the 30 states had regulations for open-water swim sites.
Only four - Illinois, New York, West Virginia and New Jersey - had
four or five regulations in place.
Signage and water quality were not associated with lower open-water
drowning rates, but after accounting for influential factors, such
as a state's total water area and poverty, surveillance and planning
were each associated with a 45% reduction in drowning rates compared
to when those policies were absent.
Lifeguards were also associated with a 33% lower drowning rate.
The study doesn't prove whether or how legislation regulating use of
open waters directly impacts drowning deaths.
"The effectiveness of state safety laws and regulations has been
demonstrated for other types of injury, so it is clearly plausible
that state safety regulations for open-water areas, including
requiring the presence of lifeguards, may lead to decreased
drowning," said Dr. Gary Smith, president of the Child Injury
Prevention Alliance in Columbus, Ohio.
Learning to swim, not swimming alone and swimming in designated
areas where lifeguards are on duty can all help prevent drownings
regardless of what regulations might be in place, Smith, who wasn't
involved in the study, said by email. So can being aware of tides,
water depth, potential underwater hazards, currents, waves and
weather.
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/3a51LVZ Injury Prevention, online January 7,
2020.
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