Drowning is a national problem, and prevention is a topic about which many pool care professionals are deeply passionate.

Since 2015, Service Industry News has featured a column, Not On My Watch, that chronicles the media-reported pool and spa drownings throughout the United States, detailing deaths and some of the rarely reported near deaths. The point of the column is to get people to realize the frequency, immediacy, and reality of the drowning problem that we have in this country. After collecting a year’s worth of stories, we present the following information: Not On My Watch discovered 183 child drowning deaths in pools and spas from April 2023 to March 2024.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, about 379 children die of drowning in a pool and spa every year.

Therefore, last year Not On My Watch found 48 percent of all U.S. child pool and spa drownings.

In many cases, Not On My Watch found the age, gender, location and circumstances of the drowning death. We can report that from 2023 to 2024, 62 percent of the drownings were boys and 38 percent were girls. Those percentages are fairly consistent with CPSC data, which reports that more than twice as many boys drown than girls.

The locations of the drownings were reported. Not On My Watch found that the states with the highest child drowning incidents last year included Florida*, 43%, Texas, 10%; Arizona, 7%; California, 5%; Pennsylvania, 3%.

*Note — the state of Florida keeps excellent records on child drowning incidents. While it is true that Florida does have a high incidence of child drowning, Florida’s exceptionally high percentage reflects better access to drowning information.

In many cases, the details of the drownings were reported. This is especially pertinent information.

In some incidents, children were reported to have drowned in the midst of a large gathering, such as a party, family reunion, or other function where many others were present.

Child Drowning by Month, Data from 2023-2024 Not on my Watch From the data collected, this was true of 13 percent of all the drowned children found.

Many children were reported to have drowned in a commercial or public pool, where parents might assume the presence of a lifeguard. From the data collected, this was true of 14 percent of all of the children found.

In some cases, children are reported to have drowned in a neighbor’s swimming pool or spa. A parent or guardian notices that the child is missing only to find that they have gained unauthorized access to someone else’s pool.

In many such cases, the child is reportedly autistic. From the data collected, 6 percent of the children who drown last year had gained unauthorized access to a neighbor’s pool. This is consistent with data collected from prior years.

This is particularly salient information because many pool owners who do not have children do not believe that they should incorporate common safety measures for their pools, such as fences, covers, or alarms. It’s also important because many people who don’t have or use pools don’t teach their children to swim.

It is important to mention that Not On My Watch does not deliver one crucial bit of information: the total number of non-fatal drownings that occur every year.

Every day, America’s swimming pools see close calls where the child is rescued in time to send them to the hospital in serious, critical, or grave condition. In most of these instances, the final outcome is never reported.

While the Consumer Product Safety Commission does report the annual number of emergency room visits, they do not report whether the drowning incidents result in brain damage or permanent injury.

However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does shed some light on this question For every child under age 18 who dies from drowning, another 7 receive emergency department care for a nonfatal drowning.

Nearly 40 percent of drownings treated in emergency departments require hospitalization or transfer for further care (compared with 10 percent for all unintentional injuries).

Drowning injuries can cause brain damage and other serious outcomes, including long-term disability.

The Not On My Watch column stresses that drowning events are real: tragic, frequently preventable, and much more than just statistics.

But there are a lot of take-home messages that statistics can provide. One message is that there must always be a dedicated water watcher when children are around water. Data from the “large gathering” drowning incidents shows that simply having a large number of people present around the pool does not prevent drowning.

Another message is for parents to teach children to swim, and teach them early. Children under 4 have the highest drowning rate. By some estimates, drownings are eight times as likely to happen to children who don’t know how to swim.

Most of the children found in unattended neighbor’s pools were also under the age of 4. Teaching children to swim provides them with a layer of protection if they go unsupervised — even if it doesn’t make them drown-proof.

But this also brings up an important point for all pool owners: restrict access to your pools, even if you don’t have children. Install and lock a gate around your pool. Many children are attracted to water. The last thing anyone wants to find when they come home at the end of the day is a drowned neighbor’s child in their pool.

Concerned parents can get a complete list of permitted pools in their neighborhood by contacting their local planning department.

Perhaps the biggest take-home message is to be aware of drowning risks. Awareness of a potential hazard could be the best protection we can offer our children.

It is time for drowning prevention to become part of our national conversation. Our special thanks to Jason Lehman, a Texas pool service professional who helped inspire our part in that endeavor.