Among 163 drowning-related hospital visits in Houston this year, 14 have led to death according to the Houston Health Department.
For those who care about the safety of our children, this is unacceptable. Because the lion’s share of the 389 pool or spa-related fatal drownings on average annually,
According to the latest U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the CDC report, there is an annual average of 389 pool or spa-related fatal drownings 73% of these happen to children under five.
There are also 6,300 nonfatal drowning injuries among children under 15 every year.
Dr. David Persse, the city’s Chief Medical Officer, said this year’s local tragic incidents happened in both pools and other bodies of water. Bucking the trend, however, a majority of those who have died locally this year were adults.
“When we think about drownings most people do think about children drowning, but adults drown, you know, quite frequently,” Persse said.
Five of the 14 who died were children; nine of them were 18 years old or older.
He added that drownings are common in Houston, especially during this time of year because people cool off by swimming in pools or other bodies of water.
Persse emphasized drownings aren’t as dramatic as they seem in the movies when there’s splashing and cries for help.
“TV and movies depict drownings as there being a lot of splashing and cries for help, and in reality that’s not what happens,” he said. “In reality, what happens is that for whatever reason if the child slips under the water, they gulp water and get it into their lungs and then they’re not capable of calling out for help.
“So, drowning is really a silent thing.”
“This speaks to the overall importance of why we need to make sure that our families, young people, and adults have the tools they need in order to swim,” said Houston City Councilmember Tiffany Thomas, who hosts an annual “Summer of Safety” swim and water safety seminar at the Alief Neighborhood Center Pool.
Stats we need to know
Here are some additional stats that speak to the importance of water safety:
- Drowning claims the lives of approximately 3,500 people per year, with nearly 25% being children under the age of 14. The problem is particularly prevalent in ethnically diverse communities, where the drowning rate is almost three times the national average (CDC).
- Approximately 10 people drown every day in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- Black children drown at a rate nearly 5.5 times higher than their Caucasian peers, as reported by the CDC.
- Drowning is a silent killer—most young children who drowned in pools were last seen in the home, had been out of sight less than five minutes, and were in the care of one or both parents at the time, according to the Present P. Child Drowning Study.
- If a parent does not know how to swim, there is only a 19% chance that a child in that household will learn how to swim.
- 79% of children in families with household incomes less than $50,000 have no or low swimming ability.
Water Safety Efforts
Last year, Olympians Cullen Jones (2008 and 2012 Olympic Games) and Nathan Adrian (2008, 2012 and 2016) were in Houston, brought here by the USA Swimming Foundation and Phillips 66 as part of the annual “Make a Splash Tour,” where former Olympic swimmers visit cities across the country providing swimming lessons for youth, especially Black and Latinx children.
Jones knows personally the importance of water safety. During a family trip to an amusement park, Jones says though he hadn’t taken swimming lessons, all seemed safe. Still, the unthinkable nearly happened.
“What’s important about my story was that there were lifeguards there. My parents were there… and, I was still able to go underwater; had to be resuscitated. And then, my parents were like, ‘Never again. We’re getting you into swim lessons,’” he said.
Now 20 years later, swimming is still a primary piece of his life.
“Becoming an Olympian; but humble beginnings of almost drowning; I was almost the statistics that we are trying to fight,” he added.