Skills you need to protect your child from drowning
Simple swimming ability, close supervision, and knowledge of CPR specific to a drowning victim would go a long way in reversing this trend.
With the arrival of the July 4th holiday millions of Americans will take to the beaches, lakes, and pools to enjoy swimming and recreation. It doesn’t come without risks, though, as drowning is the leading cause of death in children ages 1-4, and the third leading cause of unintentional death worldwide.
Drowning deaths have also been increasing in the United States with the CDC recording approximately 4,500 deaths recorded per year for 2020-2022 while in the eight years prior it was 4,000.
Simple swimming ability, close supervision, and knowledge of CPR specific to a drowning victim would go a long way in reversing this trend. These skills are lacking in the American population at large, with a Red Cross survey showing half of all Americans either can’t swim or don’t have all the basic swimming skills.
With Ben Franklin’s adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, getting yourself and your family competent with the five basic water skills is essential.
These are, in sequence:
The ability to step or jump into water over your head,
Return to the surface and float or tread water for a minute,
Turn around and do an exit,
Be able to swim 25 yards to the exit, and
The ability to exit the body of water (without an assist from a ladder if in a pool).
Just as important is close supervision of any child regardless of their swimming ability, and using flotation devices if on any type of water craft including boats, kayaks, and jet skis. Ensuring pools at home are safely behind a fence or other child-proof barrier is also important.
If a swimmer does run into trouble, it is first imperative to understand the signs of distress. Typically, and counterintuitively, there will be no thrashing around or calls for help from somebody struggling in the water.
Drowning is often a silent event, especially in younger children. It is very often a simple lack of movement in the water, and then a quiet submersion.
If you do find yourself with a suspected drowning victim, it is important to be aware of the differences in cardiopulmonary resuscitation advocated by the American Heart Association (AHA), which in 2024 updated their recommendations.
In a typical victim who is down the AHA recommends a sequence of chest compressions followed by attention to the airway and delivering rescue breaths. This is because most people found unresponsive have a primary cardiac abnormality leading to their event.
For a drowning, defined by the World Health Organization as “the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion or immersion in liquid,” the AHA recommends the ABC of resuscitation, which accentuates the importance of early rescue breaths. This means:
Identifying their airway and then
Delivering two rescue breaths immediately (five rescue breaths are advocated by European Resuscitation Council) before moving on to
Chest compressions.
The American Red Cross has lists of places to obtain swim lessons, and local YMCAs are also an excellent resource. Learning CPR for everyday needs and specific to a drowning victim is important and local classes can be found at the AHA website.
Getting yourself and your family up to competency with swimming skills, CPR, and ensuring appropriate supervision is even more important this summer than ever. In April 2025 the team at the CDC that tracks drowning incidents, analyzes data, and issues safety reports was laid off.
None of these cautions are meant to stop us from safely enjoying what can be among the most joyous activities in life, and even a source of healing. As the writer Isak Dinesen said: “The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.”
Michael J Stephen is a Penn Medicine pulmonary physician and local writer.