Hi Seal Beach,
Now that summer has officially started, we have an important message from our friends at the Orange County Fire Authority and Seal Beach Marine Safety.
We know our beautiful shores are a popular attraction for Seal Beach residents and visitors. Here is some helpful information about water safety: The effects of drowning can be fatal or non-fatal. Those incidents that are non-fatal can still have long-term effects such as brain or organ damage.
Drowning happens in seconds:
• Faster than it takes to send a text
• Faster than it takes to tie a shoe
• Faster than it takes to grab a snack
Most child drownings are due to a lapse in supervision or a lack of proper water safety barriers. Adult drownings are mostly due to medical issues or intoxication.
Always keep young children within an arm’s reach in the pool or at the beach.
At Orange County Fire Authority, we teach the ABC’s of water safety to help educate and prevent drownings:
• The A stands for Active Adult Supervision. We encourage you to assign a water watcher who can keep their eyes on the water while avoiding distractions like a cell phone or a book. It is best that the water watcher be a responsible and sober adult who can swim.
• The B is for Barriers. We recommend multiple layers of protection from pool and spa areas including but not limited to self-latching gates, 4-sided isolation fences, pool and spa covers, alarms and indoor barriers to protect access from any room inside the house that has water access.
• The C is for Classes. Take swimming lessons, learn CPR and make sure you know how to use an AED. Learn and practice rescue techniques so you know how to help, if a drowning incident should occur.
While swimming be aware of drain safety.
Encourage those swimming to tie back long hair and remove jewelry or bathing suit ties to avoid entanglement or entrapment.
Drowning can happen at any stage in life. Never swim alone.
Learning to swim and wearing a U.S Coast Guard approved life vest if you are not a strong swimmer could save your life.
If someone is drowning, get help and recognize your ability. Do not become a second victim if you are not a strong swimmer. If the person is conscious, use a life ring, shepherd’s hook or pool noodle to help. If the person is unconscious, take a floatation device, approach from the back, immobilize them and use the floatation device to drag them to the shore or edge of the pool.
National Statistics
• In the United States, drowning is the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death in children between ages 1 and 4. (American Academy of Pediatrics, April 2019)
• Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death after motor vehicle crashes for children ages 5-14. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022)
• While children are at the highest risk, anyone can drown. Every year in the United States there are an estimated:
• 4,000 fatal unintentional drownings, including boating-related drowning – that is an average of 11 drowning deaths per day. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022)
• 8,000 nonfatal drownings – that is an average of 22 nonfatal drownings per day. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022)
Orange County Statistics
• In Orange County in 2022, there were 114 drowning incidents, 66 of which were non-fatal and 48 of which were fatal. (Orange County Drowning Statistics, Orange County Fire Authority, May 2023)
• Of those 114 drowning incidents in Orange County in 2022, 35 involved children under the age of five and 25 were adults age 50 and older. (Orange County Drowning Statistics, Orange County Fire Authority, May 2023)
Non-fatal drowning can result in long-term health problems and costly hospital stays.
• For every child under the age of 18 who dies from drowning, another 7 receive emergency department care for non-fatal drowning. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022)
• More than 40% of drownings treated in emergency departments require hospitalization or transfer for further care (compared with 6% for all unintentional injuries). (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022)
• The effects of an immersion incident occur quickly and can be catastrophic, especially to young children who lose consciousness within two minutes and can experience irreversible brain damage within four minutes. (Orange County Health Care Agency, March 2021)
The importance of adult supervision in and around water
• Drowning can happen quickly and quietly anywhere there is water, especially to unsupervised children.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission found that nearly 70% of children ages 0-4 that were found in the pool were not supposed to be in or near the water. In fact, 46% were last seen in the house before being found in the pool. (“Pool Dangers and Drowning Prevention – When It’s Not Swimming Time,” healthychildren.org, American Academy of Pediatrics, March 2019)
For more information, please visit https://ocfa.org/SafetyPrograms/DrowningPrevention.aspx and https://www.sealbeachca.gov/Departments/Marine-Safety-Lifeguards. Seal Beach Lifeguards will be on duty all summer to make sure that our beachgoers are safe and happy.
Keep your questions coming Seal Beach! Email us at askacop@sealbeachca.gov today.
