Three Stats to Help Keep Your Kids Safe When They’re Swimming

As the weather gets nicer, keep in mind that we lose around a thousand kids in the U.S. to drowning incidents each year. Another 7,000 end up in the ER. So here’s some info to help keep YOUR kids safe.

A group called Safe Kids Worldwide released a report this month that looked at different risk factors.

Here are three big stats from it . . .

1. OPEN water is the most dangerous. That means oceans, lakes, and rivers.

43% of childhood drownings happen there.

38% happen in swimming pools.

9% happen in bathtubs.

The remaining 10% of drownings were unspecified.

2. Keep an eye on teenagers at the beach, not just young kids.

49% of open water drownings involve kids between 15 and 19 years old.

15% involve 10-to-14-year-olds.

13% involve kids between 5 and 9.

And 23% involve kids under the age of 5.

3. Boys are more likely to get into trouble in the water. 80% of open water fatalities involve boys, and just 20% involve girls.

A few things to watch out for at the beach include dangerous currents . . . sudden drop-offs, where the water gets deeper . . . and things like rocks, or vegetation they could get tangled in.

The good news is drowning deaths are down over the last 10 or 20 years. From almost 1,400 a year in 2000, to about 1,000 in 2016.

(Today / Safe Kids Worldwide)