Considering Drowning, Drowning Prevention, and Learning to Swim

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education Volume 5 | Number 3 Article 2 8-1-2011 Considering Drowning, Drowning Prevention, and Learning to Swim Stephen J. Langendorfer Bowling Green State University, Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/ijare Recommended Citation Langendorfer, Stephen J. (2011) "Considering Drowning, Drowning Prevention, and Learning to Swim," International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education: Vol. 5 : No. 3 , Article 2. DOI: 10.25035/ijare.05.03.02 Available at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/ijare/vol5/iss3/2 This Editorial is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@BGSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@BGSU. Langendorfer: Considering Drowning, Drowning Prevention, and Learning to Swim International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education, 2011, 5, 236-243 © 2011 Human Kinetics, Inc. Considering Drowning, Drowning Prevention, and Learning to Swim I composed drafts of this editorial mainly while flying at about 36,000 feet (~11,000 m) over the continental U.S., the Pacific Ocean, and the South China Sea on my way to and from participating in the World Conference on Drowning Prevention (WCDP) 2011 in Danang, Vietnam. If this editorial seems less “lucid” than some I have written, I hope readers may chalk it up to low brain oxygen levels, cramped seating conditions, and/or jet lag. For those who dread flying such as my sister, Susie, I am just ignoring the fact that I am 7 miles above the earth’s surface racing along at 550mph (850kmh) in a flimsy tube of aluminum theoretically held aloft due to forces associated with Bernoulli’s principle! Because of my participation at WCDP 2011, my thoughts have been consumed not with potential airplane crashes (or delays and missed flights of which there were plenty on the trip), but with the tragedy of drowning and the many ideas and proposals for dealing with this worldwide pandemic that emerged during this conference. Although the annual numbers of fatal drownings in the U.S. and many other high income countries (HIC) have slowly declined over the past 30-50 years, the estimated worldwide numbers remain staggering. Informed estimates put the range between 200,000 to 800,000 lives lost per annum. Most of the fatal drownings each year occur in low and middle income countries (LMICs), especially those in tropical regions such as Southeast Asia and Vietnam where water is omnipresent particularly during the monsoon season from September to December. It was widely publicized during WCDP that at least 300,000 annual fatal drownings occur in the LMICs. This tragic number was one of the stated reasons for holding the conference in Vietnam where there are a growing number of innovative and noteworthy learn-to-swim and drowning prevention programs underway. Regular readers of IJARE may recall Kevin Moran’s insightful article in the fourth volume describing the “iceberg phenomenon” associated with drowning wherein some estimates suggest that non-fatal drowning (the term the International Life Saving Federation strongly urges all of use to use instead of the older and less accurate “near drowning” usage) may occur at a ratio of 10:1 in relation to fatal occurrences. I recently read another survey reporting that a majority of respondents self-reported having had or knowing of a “near” or “non-fatal” drowning experience at sometime during their lifetime. I think we need to heed this high rate of non-fatal drowning because the difference between non-fatal and fatal may be less than a minute and some fortuitous occurrence such as bystander able to respond. Barriers to Drowning The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) in the U.S. as well as the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (USCPSC) and other groups such as the National Drowning Prevention Alliance (NDPA) have proposed the concept Published236 by ScholarWorks@BGSU, 2011 1 International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education, Vol. 5, No. 3 [2011], Art. 2 Editorial   237 of “multiple barriers” between water environments and prospective drowning victims, particularly young children, ages 1-5 years. Young children represent the worldwide group that consistently suffers from the highest rates of fatal and nonfatal drowning. The multiple barriers proposal arose from the recognition that no single variable explains a majority of drowning experiences. The need for multiple barriers to water results from the fact that although we can identify a number of factors that contribute to drowning incidences (e.g., lack or momentary loss of adult supervision, excessive ease of access to water such as inadequate fencing around backyard pools or no childproof locks on windows or doors), none of them alone is sufficient to prevent drowning. Of course, the well-intentioned recommendation to provide multiple barriers to water in home environments is probably overly simplistic when considering the worldwide incidence of fatal and non-fatal drowning, especially in the LMICs. As the WCDP program continually stressed, drowning most often results from a complex set of circumstances in different settings around the globe. Recognition of the complexity of drowning factors is indeed an important realization, albeit only a first step in a long journey for drowning prevention advocates, researchers, lifeguards, water safety experts, and other clinicians. The WCDP 2011, to be followed in two short years by another assembly in October 2014 in Potsdam, Germany, rightfully heralded the growing importance and acceptance of a regular “soap box” issue of mine in previous IJARE editorials: the need for a stronger and more comprehensive scientific evidence basis for our practices in swimming and drowning prevention. Role of Learning to Swim and Water Competence in Drowning Prevention As regular readers know, I am particularly interested in the role that learning to swim and competence in the water may play in drowning prevention. At first glance, having sufficient skill in swimming seems like a “no brainer” in the quest for a “magic bullet” in preventing incidences of drowning. There can be no doubt that knowing how to swim can be a powerful deterrent to drowning. While swimming skill may be an important, even a necessary, element in drowning prevention, it also is insufficient by itself due to the host of complex elements that contribute to the risk of drowning. Part of the reason for this insufficiency can be appreciated if one understands swimming, water competence, and drowning from developmental and dynamical perspectives. Swimming as a Dynamical System I would like to propose the perhaps radical proposition that skill or competence (sometimes inaccurately termed “ability”) in swimming is not a capacity possessed in any static or permanent way by any individual. Our common way of speaking about our skillful (...truncated)