Drowning has been identified as the leading cause of deaths and injuries of children of the ages 1-4 in more than 18 US states. As indicated by Ellis and Trent (1997)drowning ranks the second cause of deaths and injuries in the national spectrum, whereby it ranks second after automobile accidents. Statistics from Joost et al (2009) shows that more than 4,000 children lose their lives through drowning, while more than 12,000 are left with permanent brain damages every year. WHO has classified drowning as the third leading cause of unprecedented injury and death worldwide, whereby it accounts for 7% of injury related deaths. It is worth noting that the extent of drowning is varied on the basis of water accessibility, climate as well as national swimming culture. Based on these high statistics regarding drowning, there has been great need to carry out further research concerning the crisis(Shepherd et al, 2010).California has not been exempted from the drowning calamity, whereby many children of the ages 1-4 loss their lives or sustain critical injuries from drowning cases. This paper will provide an explicit and profound report regarding the problem of drowning in Children 1-4 years old in California.
Extent of drowning in California
Drowning has been categorized as the leading cause of death and injuries among Californian children of the ages 1-4 years. As reported by Joost et al (2009), 26% of children deaths of the age 1-4 in the year 2004 was as a result of drowning. Many children who escape death from drowning instances sustain permanent deaths, hence affecting their entire life. An approximate of 500 children of the age 1-4 are hospitalized each year following unintentional drowning. Out of these number, more than 15 percent of the cases die in hospital while around 20% sustain severe permanent neurological disability. In the year 2000, a high rate of drowning cases was reported in California whereby 1 child was drowned each day (Shepherd et al, 2010). It is also worth noting that; most of the drowning cases went un-reported thus worsening the extent of the calamity.
Factors enhancing drowning in California
There is an overwhelming swimming culture all over the US, whereby California is not exempted. As postulated by Ellis and Trent (1997)swimming is one of the leading forms of leisure in California whereby many people engage in the activity. Many public and private institutions have swimming pools hence promoting the swimming culture. In relation to these phenomenons, the curiosity of the children to engage in the same has been outstanding. Many young children in California among other regions of the world accompany their older siblings in swimming pools (Shepherd et al, 2010).This phenomenon increases the probability of the children drowning without the recognition their recognition. Research has indicated that, more than 70% of children drowning cases happen while the child is under care of both or one parents. In this regard, the children are reported missing only five minutes or less before the drowning (Shepherd et al, 2010). This scenario depicts that children do not solely move to the swimming pools but accompany their elder siblings or parents.
Swimming pools, spas and hot tubs are the major areas where the children drown. This is in relation to the high number of these facilities all across the state. Public, domestic and private institutions are endowed with swimming facilities hence increasing their accessibility to the children. The cases of drowning in open waters like lakes, rivers, canals and dams was minimal among the children of 1-4 years. In this regard, it was only children of 5-14 years of age who fall victims of drowning in these places (Barkin et al, 1999).The financial stability of Californian population has facilitated the affordability of the swimming facilities. In this regard, most of the homes, schools, churches, among other public places have swimming pools. This in turn increases the accessibility of the children to these facilities. It is important to note that, more than 19% of children drowning cases occur in public pools. Most of these pools have certified lifeguards, hence demonstrating some sense of negligence and ignorance among the guardians and parents. This is based on the fact that, most of the deaths or injuries occurring due to drowning happen while the children’s parents are present (Barkin et al, 1999).
Residential Spa and pool drowning are the most dominant instances among children of 1 to 4 years. This is based on the accessibility of the children to these facilities, since they don’t need to walk for long. The drowning of toddlers in these incidents is referred to as silent killer since they don’t make noise. The incident is instant and the parent or guardian in charge of the child realizes the scenario when it’s too late. Lack of constant supervision for toddlers is the main cause of the incidents (Callaghan et al, 2010). It is also worth noting that, most of the residential and public spas and pools are not fenced. This in turn increases the accessibility of the children to the facilities. The lifestyles of the Californian people can also be blamed for the high rates of children drowning. In this case, most of the guardians and parents move with their children to the swimming pools and spas without thinking of the consequences (Callaghan et al, 2010).
Drowning Risks to the population
Death is the major risk caused by drowning among the ages 1-4 years. This is based on the fact that, more than 15% of the children who have been involved in drowning incidents lose their lives. In this regard, many families are losing their loved ones at a higher rate hence leading to severe psychological problems. Most of the families in California practice family planning, whereby one child per family is the dominant trend. In this case, lose of a child means great to the family. This scenario leads to lack of family continuity or may mean conflicts or family breakups (Shinaberger et al, 1990).This is associated with blame games over who is responsible for the whole incident. The issue of permanent brain damage and neurological disability are also highly related with drowning. This is based on the fact that, over 20% of the children who survive drowning is left with severe injuries. In this case, the society is at a risk of having a high population of disabled people. This will have severe impacts on the economy, since the disabled persons will not be able to participate in national building and development (Barkin et al, 1999). Treatment of the injuries and disabilities caused by drowning is very expensive hence, hence leading to financial strains among the involved families.
Prevention of drowning
With regard to the increasing cases on drowning of children of 1-4 years in California, there is great need for the implementation of efficient prevention measures. Firstly, obstruction of children accessibility to the swimming pools, spas, dams, lakes or rivers is the most vital step in the prevention of drowning. This aspect is achieved through the creation or use of barriers to obstruct toddlers from accessing the water (Callaghan et al, 2010). In this regard, all spas and pools should be fenced the four sides. Self-latching and self-closing gates should also be adopted in obstructing children from accessing the water. This phenomenon gives the guardians or parents an extra time that enables them to notice a missing child and save them from drowning. It is important to note that, domestic, private and public pools should be fenced so as to avoid easy access of the children(Callaghan et al, 2010).
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