Paper Example on Drowning Prevention for the Pediatric Population

Introduction

Drowning is one of the primary reasons for childhood morbidity due to injury. In the US, drowning is considered to be the second highest cause of death caused by unintentional injury among teenagers. According to Al-Qurashi et al. (2017), drowning is death or near drowning resulting from suffocation when an individual is submerged in water. In 2017, about 1500 children in the US drowned, causing death. Most of these deaths were unintentional and others leading to hospitalization (Ramos et al. 2015). Behavioral strategies environmental strategies may be critical to curb injury related deaths caused by drowning in children below the age of 18 years old. Parents need to increase children supervision when around water. Fences should also be installed around swimming pools to prevent drowning strategies (Ramos et al. 2015). Therefore, this paper discuses risk factors and strategies that can be employed to reduce unintentional injury and childhood morbidity caused by drowning among teenagers.

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Risk Factors

Seasonal Variation

Most causes of unintentional morbidity caused by drowning among teenagers are based on seasonal variations. Most deaths among drowning victims occur between the month of May and August. According to Wallis et al. (2014), drowning unintentionally occur during the weekends. For example, approximately 39% of drowning deaths in 2015 happened on Saturdays and Sundays. Drowning among children also vary from state to state. For example, between 2010 and 1013, the rate of drowning among teenagers was high in New Hampshire and low in Florida.

Place of Drowning

A study by Turgut, Yaman, and Turgut, (2016) on childhood drowning showed that most deaths occur happened at home, either in buckets or in bathtubs. The study further indicated that children at the age of 0 to 4 years are more likely to drown in swimming pools. The children who drown or nearly drown do this by entering swimming pools without the surveillance of their parents. This commonly happens children are at home with their parents or caregiver, they leave silently and the immersion is commonly silent with no splashes or screaming heard.

Socio-Demographic Factors

The ability of one to drown is based on race, socio-economic status, age and gender. According to Conover and Romero (2018), male children are of great risk to drown than their female counterparts as observed in Figure 1.

Figure. Drowning rates vs. drowning deaths among children between the age of 0 to 19 years.

From the figure, the rate of drowning among female children starts between the age of one and two years and reduces drastically Consequently, the rate of drowning among male children start between the age of 1 to 2 and increases thereafter. Leavy et al. (2016) carried out a study on pool drowning in California and found that the rate of drowning among children is high in cities or in more affluent communities due to the increase exposure to swimming pools. Therefore, in all ages, the rate of drowning is based on per capita income or high median family incomes.

Child Supervision Status

A study on childhood drowning was carried out in King County, Washington found that inadequate supervision from parents and caregivers are the most significant factor for drowning among children. It is common for children to be left unattended or under the care of other children. For example, a parent may leave a child to carry out household chores or receive a phone call, only to find the child has unintentionally drowned. It is also common for teenagers to go swimming in rivers, lakes or oceans without lifeguards causing drowning or hospitalization.

Underlying Medical Conditions

One of the major risk factor in drowning among children is seizure. For example, a child with epilepsy is four times more likely to drown compared to normal children. Most studies have also indicated that children with autism are at risk of drowning. Long QT syndrome or Cardiac arrhythmias is one of the primary cause of unexplained drowning as it even occur to proficient swimmers with low risk of drowning.

Prevention and Interventions

The Injury Prevention and Research Center in the US developed the prevention strategies for childhood drowning as shown below. However, it is recommended that no single strategy is enough to prevent injuries and deaths caused by drowning among children below the age of 18 years old.

Fencing

Fencing a pool is a critical strategy of intervention that can help reduce the risk of drowning in swimming pools. Parents need to consider installing a four sided fence that isolate the house from the pool to reduce the number of drowning incidences and injuries among children. Research shows that there is a 0.27 odd for drowning in a pool that is fenced and a pool that is not fenced. Since some children have the ability to climb the fences, they need to be at least four feet high and gates need to be self closing or self latching.

Pool Covers and Alarms

Rigid pool covers and pool alarms can provide additional security especially for young children. Pool alarms have go on whenever water has been disturbed or by detecting waves on the surface or beneath the pool. Therefore, pool alarms may be more reliable and consistent in detecting body weight and drowning. However, it is recommended that pool alarms should be used alongside pool covers or four sided fences as barriers that protect the pool.

Swimming Instructions

Recent research shows that swimming instructions improve the ability of an individual to swim. Such effects can be observed in children between 5 and 18 years old. However, these lessons may not prevent drowning. Importantly, event best swimmers are not drowning proof and they are not always safe in water. Besides, swimming instructions for infants and toddlers should not be endorsed because children at that age lack judgment and may not recue themselves.

Supervisions

Young children should be supervised around any water body to prevent chances of drowning. Although supervision may not be sufficient to curb drowning, providing lifeguards may increase the probability of a positive result. It is important to note that the effectiveness of supervision as a strategy to prevent drowning has not been evaluated.

Personal Floating Devices (PFDs)

PFDs or life vests are considered to be critical in reducing drowning morbidity among children in pools, streams, rivers, oceans and lakes. Importantly, air wings are air filled swimming aids that should not be used as floating devices. Increasing life vests around water bodies should be an important program that may reduce deaths and injuries associated with drowning among children.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)

Once drowning has occurred, immediate resuscitation is important before paramedics arrive. This is a secondary intervention strategy that is considered to increase neurologic outcome in children. Rapid mouth to mouth ventilation, oxidation, chest compressions or abdominal thrusts is important. After expelling water from the airways, CPR can be performed as a first line therapy to improve outcomes.

References

Al-Qurashi, F. O., Yousef, A. A., Aljoudi, A., Alzahrani, S. M., Al-Jawder, N. Y., Al-Ahmar, A. K., ... & Abouollo, H. M. (2017). A Review of Nonfatal Drowning in the Pediatric-Age Group.

Conover, K., & Romero, S. (2018). Drowning prevention in pediatrics. Pediatric annals, 47(3),e112-e117.

Leavy, J. E., Crawford, G., Leaversuch, F., Nimmo, L., McCausland, K., & Jancey, J. (2016). A review of drowning prevention interventions for children and young people in high, low and middle income countries. Journal of community health, 41(2), 424-441.

Ramos, W., Beale, A., Chambers, P., Dalke, S., Fielding, R., Kublick, L., ... & Wernicki, P. (2015). Primary and secondary drowning interventions: The American Red Cross circle of drowning prevention and chain of drowning survival. International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education, 9(1), 8.

Turgut, T., Yaman, M., & Turgut, A. (2016). Educating children on water safety for drowning prevention. Social Indicators Research, 129(2), 787-801.

Wallis, B. A., Watt, K., Franklin, R. C., Taylor, M., Nixon, J. W., & Kimble, R. M. (2014). Interventions associated with drowning prevention in children and adolescents: systematic literature review. Injury prevention, injuryprev-2014.