Abstract
Drowning is a major cause of injury and death worldwide. This study aims to expand the evidence in fatal and non-fatal drowning. A retrospective study was conducted to investigate fatal and non-fatal drowning incidents attended by ambulance paramedics in Victoria (Australia) from 2007 to 2012. A total of 509 drowning incidents were identified, 339 (66.6%) were non-fatal, with 170 (33.4%) resulting in death. Children aged 0–4 years had the highest crude drowning rate (7.95 per 100,000 persons). Non-fatal incidents were more likely to be witnessed by a bystander when compared with fatal incidents (43.7% vs. 20.0%, p < 0.001). Spatial analysis indicated that 35 (43.8%) local government areas (LGAs) were considered at ‘excess risk’ of a drowning event occurring. This study is the first to apply spatial analysis to determine relative risk ratios for fatal and non-fatal drowning. These findings will enable geographically targeted and age-specific drowning prevention activities.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 303-310 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion. |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 3 Jul 2017 |
Keywords
- Drowning prevention
- health policy
- management
- unintentional injury
