Number (%) of submersion deaths in three Washington State counties, 1980–95, by category of age; proportions by characteristics of the victim or the drowning event*
| Age group (years) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | 0–4 | 5–14 | 15–19 | 20–34 | 35–64 | ≥65 | All ages |
| *Some data missing for most row categories. Categories with more than 10% missing data were: event witnessed (31%), activity (11%), diabetes (16%), heart disease (15%), psychiatric disorder (24%), bystander resuscitation (11%). | |||||||
| †Cold season is November, December, January, February. Mild season is March, April, September, October. Warm season is May, June, July, August. | |||||||
| All | 89 (100) | 62 (100) | 79 (100) | 225 (100) | 168 (100) | 86 (100) | 709 (100) |
| Sex | |||||||
| Male | 62 (70) | 52 (84) | 67 (85) | 197 (88) | 131 (78) | 47 (55) | 556 (78) |
| Female | 27 (30) | 10 (16) | 12 (15) | 28 (12) | 37 (22) | 39 (45) | 153 (22) |
| Race | |||||||
| White | 75 (88) | 44 (72) | 64 (82) | 179 (80) | 149 (89) | 76 (89) | 587 (84) |
| Black | 8 (9) | 13 (21) | 5 (6) | 23 (10) | 14 (8) | 2 (2) | 65 (9) |
| Hispanic | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 6 (3) | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 9 (1) |
| Asian | 1 (1) | 4 (7) | 8 (10) | 7 (3) | 0 | 6 (7) | 26 (4) |
| Native American | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 9 (4) | 4 (2) | 0 | 14 (2) |
| Season† | |||||||
| Cold | 16 (18) | 9 (15) | 14 (18) | 52 (23) | 47 (28) | 24 (28) | 162 (23) |
| Mild | 23 (26) | 14 (23) | 14 (18) | 68 (30) | 52 (31) | 23 (27) | 194 (27) |
| Warm | 50 (56) | 39 (63) | 51 (65) | 105 (47) | 69 (41) | 38 (44) | 352 (50) |
| Event witnessed† | 10 (12) | 16 (34) | 44 (76) | 113 (70) | 53 (50) | 9 (29) | 245 (50) |
| Body of water | |||||||
| Pool | 32 (36) | 15 (24) | 2 (3) | 9 (4) | 14 (8) | 8 (9) | 80 (11) |
| Bathtub | 26 (29) | 4 (6) | 2 (3) | 16 (7) | 26 (15) | 44 (51) | 118 (17) |
| Outside | 31 (35) | 43 (69) | 75 (95) | 200 (89) | 128 (76) | 34 (40) | 511 (72) |
| Rural location | 30 (35) | 35 (62) | 57 (77) | 139 (64) | 94 (59) | 30 (36) | 385 (57) |
| Activity | |||||||
| Boating | 0 | 7 (13) | 22 (31) | 54 (28) | 39 (27) | 5 (6) | 127 (20) |
| Swimming | 1 (1) | 20 (37) | 24 (34) | 49 (25) | 14 (10) | 6 (8) | 114 (18) |
| In car | 0 | 1 (2) | 11 (15) | 28 (14) | 18 (12) | 2 (3) | 60 (10) |
| Fell in | 64 (74) | 21 (39) | 12 (17) | 48 (25) | 41 (28) | 21 (27) | 207 (33) |
| Bathing | 21 (24) | 5 (9) | 2 (3) | 17 (9) | 33 (23) | 45 (57) | 123 (19) |
| Was in a boat | 1 (1) | 7 (12) | 21 (29) | 70 (33) | 53 (33) | 12 (14) | 164 (24) |
| Seizure history | 4 (5) | 8 (15) | 7 (11) | 18 (9) | 24 (16) | 3 (4) | 64 (10) |
| Diabetes | 0 | 0 | 1 (2) | 2 (1) | 4 (3) | 4 (6) | 11 (2) |
| Heart disease | 2 (2) | 0 | 1 (2) | 2 (1) | 40 (30) | 63 (84) | 108 (18) |
| Psychiatric disorder | 0 | 1 (2) | 0 | 8 (5) | 12 (11) | 7 (14) | 28 (5) |
| Alcohol used | 0 | 0 | 10 (13) | 75 (33) | 58 (35) | 11 (13) | 154 (22) |
| Bystander resuscitation | 64 (84) | 27 (60) | 15 (21) | 40 (19) | 35 (23) | 14 (18) | 195 (31) |
| Used pre-hospital care | 77 (87) | 41 (68) | 23 (30) | 75 (33) | 63 (39) | 25 (30) | 304 (44) |
| Used emergency department care | 68 (79) | 34 (61) | 16 (22) | 44 (20) | 29 (18) | 8 (10) | 199 (30) |
| Used hospital care | 35 (40) | 16 (27) | 6 (8) | 19 (9) | 16 (10) | 8 (9) | 100 (15) |