Alcohol significantly reduces chances of being rescued from drowning, says research

As families get ready for outdoor summer adventures, a Simon Fraser University study has found that alcohol significantly reduces the chance of youths being rescued from drowning. The findings indicate that teenagers are nearly eight times more likely than infants to drown without any rescue attempt, while the presence of alcohol quadruples the chance of no rescue attempt.

Vienna Lam, a recent Ph.D. graduate in the School of Criminology and Centre for Forensic Research, analyzed 11 years of forensic data relating to drowning deaths among those age 18 and younger across Canada. The aim was to understand why attempted rescues were made in some cases but not others, with a view to informing policymakers and the wider public.

“When people drown it’s not like in films—there’s no splashing around or loud noises. It’s almost a silent killer,” says Lam.

“We have water all around us in B.C., with beautiful coastlines, lakes and amazing rivers. But if you are not aware of the dangers, or do not have appropriate supervision, then these environments can be incredibly dangerous.”

The study, published in Medicine, Science and the Law, analyzed 638 pediatric drowning deaths. Key findings include:

• Teenagers (15–18 years) made up the largest share of deaths (33.5%), followed by toddlers (2–4 years), children (5–11 years), preteens (12–14 years) and infants (birth to 23 months).
• 466 of the deceased were male (73%). Of those deaths, a rescue attempt was carried out in 73.4% of cases.
• Although the number of female deaths was smaller (172), a rescue attempt was carried out in 84.7% of cases.
• Open-water environments pose the highest risk, with ocean drownings nearly eight times more likely to result in no rescue attempt than other environments.
• Incidents in rural locations are twice as likely to not result in a rescue attempt.
• With infants, there was an attempted rescue 95.9% of the time.
• Teenagers are 7.8 times less likely to be rescued than infants.
• The presence of alcohol quadrupled the risk of the individual not being rescued.

“When there’s alcohol present, it greatly increases the risk of there not being a rescue attempt, even if the person in trouble is not drinking,” says Lam. “This could be because drinking is often a social activity, and their peers who would normally be considered capable guardians were actually impaired.

“It was shocking to see how often alcohol involvement was identified as a contributing factor in the death of the person—even children, which is often associated with the guardian being inebriated. These results really highlight the importance of parents avoiding impairment and staying vigilant when their child is in water.”

Of the preteens who died, nearly half (46.5%) drowned while in the company of other minors, but no adults.

“When it comes to preteens, it seems there’s an assumption from parents that children in this age range will supervise each other,” says Lam. “But what we find is that preteens are actually really poor guardians. They often don’t have the swimming ability or decision-making to know when and how to intervene safely.”

The findings come a month after the Vancouver Park Board reversed its decision to remove lifeguards from four of the city’s beaches.

Lam says the study highlights the vital importance of having trained lifeguards in busy stretches of water.

“There’s an underlying assumption that if there’s lots of people around, someone will help you if you get into difficulty in the water, but we know with the bystander effect that that is not the case,” she says. “It’s absolutely essential to have lifeguards on our popular beaches, especially given how many tourists visit these spaces. But where that’s not possible, this study highlights just how important the role of the guardian is, whether that’s a parent, family member or friend.

“Guardians need to be confident swimmers. They need to be aware of the dangers specific to their given location. It’s also vital that authorities introduce signs and infographics that inform people of the dangers present, irrespective of the language they speak.”

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Stephanie Baum

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Andrew Zinin

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