According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), every day in the United States, two dozen children die from an accidental injury. Accidents are the leading cause of death among children ages 1 to 19 years, representing nearly 40 percent of all deaths in this age group. Each year, approximately 8.7 million children and teens from birth to age 19 are treated in emergency departments for unintentional injuries and more than 9,000 die as a result of their injuries - that's one every hour (or about 25 children per day). The most common causes of fatal and non-fatal unintentional childhood injuries include: drowning, falls, fires or burns, poisoning, suffocation, and transportation-related injuries. Death rates for drowning exceed those from falls, fires, pedal cycle injuries, pedestrian injuries, and poisoning.
Summer and water play go hand in hand; but where there is water there are always hazards, especially for young children. Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death among children ages 1 to 4 years*. Children can drown in as little as an inch of water, and it takes only a few seconds to happen. And drowning isn't the hysterical, screaming, splashing, loud, drawn-out event we've all been trained to expect by TV; as this must read article clearly demonstrates, drowning is actually very quiet, quick, and difficult to identify to the untrained observer.
