Drowning-related injuries and deaths: data blog:

Emergency Departments (CHIRPP database)

How many cases were there?

Between April 1, 2011 and April 13, 2023, there were 1,109 drowning-related cases reported in CHIRPP, representing 58.6 cases/100,000 CHIRPP records. Of the 1,109 drowning-related cases, males accounted for more than half (58.9%) of the emergency department (ED) visits. Infants and children aged 9 years or younger represented the largest percentage at 79.2% (n = 878)^{Footnote *}. A total of 35 drowning fatalities have been reported in CHIRPP since 2011. Of those, children aged between 2 and 9 years accounted for 60.0% of cases (n = 21).

When do drownings happen?

Drownings happen year-round. The majority of cases (73.0%; n = 810) occurred during warmer months (May, June, July, August and September), among which 507 cases involved swimming pools (62.5%) and 176 cases, natural bodies of water. There were 200 cases (18.0%) reported during the colder months (January, February March, November and December). Half of these cases (n =100) occurred in bathtubs and 80 in swimming pools (40.0%).

Where do drownings happen?

Swimming Pool

Of all 1,109 drowning cases, the majority (56.3%; n = 624) occurred in residential or public swimming pools, among which, 79.6% were infants and children aged 9 years or younger (n = 497).

Bathtubs

There were 237 reported drownings (21.4%) that occurred in bathtubs, 73.0% of which involved infants aged 1 year or younger (n = 173).

Natural Bodies of Water

Nearly one-fifth (18.8%; n = 209) of all drownings occurred in natural bodies of water, including ponds, lakes and rivers. The majority of these cases (62.2%) involved infants and children aged 9 years or younger (n = 130).

What level of in-hospital treatment was needed?

Overall, 42.4% of patients required observation or received medical treatment in the ED (n =470), while 28.5% of patients were admitted to the hospital for treatment (n = 316).

Hospitalizations (Discharge Abstract Database)

Between fiscal years 2009/10 and 2021/22 there were 2,283 drowning-related hospitalizations^{Footnote **} in Canada, excluding Quebec hospitals, an average of 175 per year. Of these cases, 64.4% were males (n = 1,470).

Presented in Table 1 is a breakdown of the types of body of water where the drownings occurred. Drownings involving swimming pools had the highest percentage at 34.9%. Among these cases, 65.5% involved children under the age of 15 years (n =521). Drownings involving natural bodies of water represented 29.2% of hospitalizations, among which 72.1% were aged 20 years or older.

Deaths (Canadian Vital Death Statistics)

Drowning is one of the leading causes of injury death among children^{Footnote 2}.

How many deaths were due to drownings?

In 2020, 323 people died due to unintentional drownings^{Footnote **} in Canada, among which nearly half (47%; n =152) occurred in natural bodies water. Between 2015 and 2020, there have been 1,768 reported deaths, an average 294 per year.

Swimming Pools

Of the 323 deaths, 39 people (12.1%) died from drowning in swimming pools. Of these cases, 43.6% were children between the ages of 1 and 9 years (n = 17).