LDH: Child drowning deaths decreasing, water safety still important
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Child drowning deaths in Louisiana have decreased but health officials say teaching children about water safety is still important.
The Louisiana Department of Health said in a news release that drowning deaths among kids dropped by 40% between 2021 and 2022 but is still the third leading cause of injury-related death for children ages 0-14.
According to LDH, babies and toddlers are at the highest risk for drowning. It is the leading cause of injury-related deaths in this age group.
Most common risk factors in child drownings, according to LDH
Lack of supervision (52%).
Inability to swim (49%).
Absence of proper barriers (38%).
To prevent a drowning, LDH recommends designating a responsible adult to watch kids in or near water without distractions and enrolling children in swim classes.
Other recommendations to prevent drowning include using life jackets when children are on a boat, installing fences around pools to prevent access and adults learning CPR and basic water rescue skills in case of emergencies.
Baby found in swimming pool in Walker early Friday, police investigate near drowning
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