Labor Day weekend is one of the deadliest holiday weekends for drownings and water-related tragedies. But with the recent firing of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s drowning prevention team, Americans are losing a key source of information that helps save lives.
Research and drowning data drive our programming at the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, and until now, the CDC's drowning prevention team played a critical role in our efforts. The agency and that team have helped us better understand who is drowning, where they’re drowning and why, so that we can develop effective drowning prevention programs. That's why we find it appalling that drowning prevention team was recently fired and its work immediately halted.
We find it appalling that the CDC drowning prevention team was fired and its work halted.
It’s equally outrageous to hear that the entire program appears to be missing from the 2026 budget.
This so-called cost-cutting effort will have a ripple effect across the entire water safety community. An already underresourced field has now lost some of our most brilliant leaders and its access to data that can help us save lives. When one considers the country’s alarming drowning statistics and the fact that drowning costs the U.S. economy more than $50 billion a year, by the CDC’s own account, these cuts make zero sense.
Drowning is a silent yet preventable global epidemic. The information we do have from the CDC tells us that every year, the U.S. loses over 4,000 people of all ages and in all kinds of water to unintentional drowning. Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4 and remains a leading cause of death for older children, teens and adults.
We should all be alarmed at recent CDC statistics that show that between 2019 and 2022, there was a 28% increase in drowning incidents among children ages 1-4 and a 19% increase among older adults ages 65-74. Between 2019 and 2021, there was a 28% increase in drowning rates for Black people. American Indian or Alaska Native people had higher drowning rates than any other race or ethnic group, and Black people had the second highest drowning rates.
According to a 2017 study from Columbia University, children with autism are 160 times more likely to drown than the general pediatric population. These sobering statistics are not just numbers; they are loved ones lost to preventable tragedies and represent families and communities profoundly impacted by these drownings.
We believe wholeheartedly that it is critical to increase, not decrease, federal resources for research and drowning prevention. That way, water safety advocates working across the U.S. will have the data, research and evidence-based strategies needed to provide water safety education and drowning prevention programs that work. We will continue to work together to prevent drowning so that all people have the knowledge and skills to safely enjoy the water. We, and I personally, do this work in honor of those lost to and impacted by drowning.
We believe it is critical to increase, not decrease, federal resources for research and drowning prevention.
Labor Day weekend is another reminder of how vital it is that individuals and families are equipped with basic water safety knowledge.
Fortunately, drowning is preventable. Unfortunately, there is not one, single solution to prevent drowning, so we recommend using layers of protection. Here are some simple water safety tips to share with your family and friends so that you can have fun while being safer in and around all kinds of water and aquatic environments.
- Barriers and alarms: These are a first and critical line of physical defense to restrict unauthorized access to a pool, spa or other body of water. These include: four-sided fencing; self-closing and self-latching gates; door, window and pool alarms, plus wearable alarms; and AI drowning detection systems. We know that 70% of drownings among young children occur during nonswim times, so these are essential.
- Supervision: Constant, capable and undistracted supervision is another critical layer of protection needed to prevent drowning. Always designate a water watcher when kids are in, on or around the water whose only job is to watch the water and be able to respond immediately in case of an emergency.
- Learn to swim: People of all ages should learn to swim and acquire basic water safety and survival skills, like floating, treading water and safely entering and exiting the water. It is also important to know your abilities and be able to navigate different aquatic environments, not just pools.
- Wear life jackets: When in or around open water or boating, wearing a properly fitted, U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket is essential. According to 2018 statistics from the Coast Guard, more than 80% of open-water drownings involve individuals who were not wearing life jackets. Life jackets save lives.
- Emergency preparedness: Learn how to recognize a swimmer in trouble and make sure you’re always able to call for help. Knowing CPR with rescue breaths and basic water rescue skills can be the difference between life and death.
Free water safety resources and educational materials are available at www.ndpa.org.
The National Drowning Prevention Alliance asks for the CDC drowning prevention team to be reinstated. The drowning prevention community is mobilizing our resources, partnerships and collaborative efforts to keep this work going, while hoping that our CDC colleagues will soon return. For now, though, we must use the data we have, our collective expertise, proven strategies fueled by the courage and stories of families who have lost a loved one to drowning or who have been impacted by a preventable water-related tragedy to reach families and communities.