CSN Discuss Bulletin

Water Safety

March 2005

This bulletin comes to you from the Children's Safety Network through CSN Discuss, an electronic forum for the discussion of child and adolescent injury and violence prevention and related issues.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

News and Developments
  1. Media Advisory: Coast Guard Warns Public of Dangers Associated with Underage, Inexperienced Operators of PersonalWatercraft
  2. 2005 North American Safe Boating Campaign
  3. Product Recall: Dive Sticks
  4. Publications: Publications on drowning prevention from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission
Articles and Reports
  1. Article: Swimming Programs for Infants and Toddlers: American Academy of Pediatric Policy Statement
  2. Report: Clear Danger A National Study of Childhood Drowning and Related Attitudes and Behaviors
  3. Article: Reported Level of Supervision of Young Children While in the Bathtub
  4. Article: Trends in childhood drowning on U.S. farms, 1986-1997
Resource from CSN
  1. Resource Packet—Drowning Prevention

AVAILABILITY

Copies of many items can be delivered to state Maternal and Child Health and state public health staff upon request. Articles available by e-mail are so indicated. Some other articles can be faxed or mailed. To request an article or other publication, e-mail jhudson@edc.org with the item name, delivery preference (e-mail, fax number, or mailing address). This service is available to state Maternal and Child Health and state public health staff. Copyright laws forbid us from delivering articles to others. URLs of publications that can be downloaded from the web are included in the bibliographic information.

News and Developments
  1. Coast Guard Warns Public of Dangers Associated with Underage, Inexperienced Operators of Personal Watercraft

    Tthe US Coast Guard media advisory alerts parents to the dangers children face from personal watercraft (PWC). The media advisory recommends that anyone operating a PWC receive training, that children under the age of 14 years are not developmentally ready to pilot such vehicles, and that parents should carefully consider the ability of very young children to safely be transported as passengers by PWCs (since, for example, they might not be able to actually hold on the vehicle firmly enough to avoid being thrown from it).

    The full advisory is available at: http://www.uscgboating.org
  2. 2005 North American Safe Boating Campaign

    The North American Safe Boating Campaign provides safe boating information intended to be used during National Safe Boating Week (May 21- May 27, 2005). The campaign focuses on personal flotation devices (pfd). Resources a vailable include posters,stickers, and pamphlets.

    For more information, see the campaign website at http://www.safeboatingcampaign.com
  3. Dive Sticks Recalled

    The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Dollar General Corporation are recalling dive sticks – small plastic toys in the shape of worms, fish, and seahorses that were sold in Dollar General Stores for about $1. Children can fall on the sticks in shallow water and suffer injuries. CPSC recommends that these toys be taken away from children immediately and returned to Dollar Stores for a refund.

    The full CPSC press release can be found at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml05/05112.html
  4. US Consumer Product Safety Commission Drowning Prevention Publications

    US Consumer Product Safety Commission publications on drowning prevention include How to Plan for the Unexpected – PreventingChild Drownings; Barrier Safety Guidelines for Home Pools; Guidelines for Entrapment Hazards: Making Pools and Spas Safer;Backyard Pool: Always Supervise Children; Prevent Child In-Home Drowning Deaths; Hair Entrapment in Drain Covers; and Spas, Hot Tubs, and Whirlpools.

    All are available at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/chdrown.html
Articles and Reports
  1. Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness and Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention
    Swimming Programs for Infants and Toddlers: American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement.
    Pediatrics: 2000 April;105(4): 868-870

    This policy statement recommends that children should not be given swimming lessons until after their fourth birthday; that aquatic programs for infants and toddlers not be promoted as a way to decrease the risk of drowning and that parents should not think their children are safe in the water merely because they have participated in such a program; that an adult should always be within arm’s length of an infant or toddler when they are around water; and that “aquatic programs should include information on the cognitive and motor limitations of infants and toddlers, the inherent risks of water, the strategies for prevention of drowning, and the role of adults in supervising and monitoring the safety of children in and around water.” This policy statement was reaffirmed by AAP in October, 2004.

    A summary can be found at: http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;105/4/868
  2. Cody BE, Quraishi AY, Dastur MC, Mickalide AD.
    Clear Danger: A National Study of Childhood Drowning and Related Attitudes and Behaviors.
    Washington, DC: National SAFE KIDS Campaign, 2004

    This study examined the circumstances of drowning in children ages 14 and under, investigated the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of parents about water safety, and assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of “tweens” (children ages 8 through 12) to assess their knowledge, attitudes and behaviors about four important components of water safety: active supervision by a designated adult, safe water environments, proper gear and education.

    Clear Danger is available online at: http://www.safekids.org/NSKW.cfm
  3. Simon HK, Tamura T, Colton K.
    Reported level of supervision of young children while in the bathtub.
    Ambulatory Pediatrics. 2003 March-April;3(2):106-8.

    This project studied reported levels of adult supervision of children in the bathtub. Almost 1/3 of respondents to survey reported leaving young children unsupervised in the bathtub. The authors recommend that parents should be advised about proper bath supervision during early anticipatory guidance.

    Availability: email or hard copy.
  4. Adekoya N.
    Trends in childhood drowning on U.S. farms, 1986-1997.
    Journal of Rural Health. 2003 Winter;19(1):11-4.

    This study compared childhood farm drowning rates to unintentional youth drowning rates for the same time period. It found these rates to be similar.

    Availability: hard copy only.
Resource from CSN
  1. Resource Packet—Drowning Prevention

    This web-based resource includes a fact sheet, drowning prevention information and strategies.

    The resource packet can be downloaded from the Children’s Safety Network National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and safety website at
    http://research.marshfieldclinic.org/children/Resources/Drowning/drowning.htm

Next month's CSN Discuss Bulletin will focus on Injury Data.

Please direct questions about this bulletin to Lisa Decker at:

Children's Safety Network
National Children's Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety
1000 N. Oak Ave.
Marshfield, WI 54449
(715)-389-7723 / (800)-662-6900
715-389-4996 fax
Decker.Lisa@mcrf.mfldclin.edu
http://research.marshfieldclinic.org/children/