Implementation of educational programs to prevent drowning. What can be done in nursery school?

Wilderness Medical Society Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Treatment and Prevention of Drowning: 2024 Update

The Wilderness Medical Society convened a panel to review available evidence supporting practices for acute management of drowning in out-of-hospital and emergency care settings. Literature about definitions and terminology, epidemiology, rescue, resuscitation, acute clinical management, disposition, and drowning prevention was reviewed. The panel graded available evidence supporting practices according to the American College of Chest Physicians criteria and then made recommendations based on that evidence. Recommendations were based on the panel's collective clinical experience and judgment when published evidence was lacking. This is the second update to the original practice guidelines published in 2016 and updated in 2019.

Preliminary Investigation and Analysis of Beachgoers' Awareness of Rip Currents in South China

Among many coastal hazards, rip currents have gradually become one of the most noticeable hazards. Studies have demonstrated that most drowning accidents at beaches around the world are related to rip currents. In this study, online and field questionnaires were combined for the first time to reveal beachgoers' awareness of rip currents in China from four aspects: demographic characteristics, swimming ability, information about visiting beaches, and knowledge about rip currents. One educational strategy was introduced to the field survey. The results suggest that (i) the proportion of online and field respondents who have heard of "rip currents" and seen warning signs of rip currents is extremely small. This reflects that beachgoers lack awareness of rip current hazards. Thus, China needs to strengthen the safety education of rip current knowledge. (ii) The level of awareness of rip currents can significantly affect the community's ability to identify the location of rip currents and their choice of escape direction. (iii) In the field survey, we implemented an educational strategy as an intervention for respondents, and the accuracy of identifying rip currents and choosing the correct escape route improved by 34% and 46.7%, respectively. This implies that the intervention of educational strategy can significantly deepen beachgoers' awareness of rip currents. It is recommended that more educational strategies about rip current knowledge be implemented on Chinese beaches in the future.

Lessons learned from co-designing a high school beach safety education program with lifeguards and students

ISSUE ADDRESSED

School-based beach safety education programs are common, but best practice guidance and information on their design and development is limited.

METHODS

Researchers, professional ocean lifeguards and students participated in a co-design process to inform a lifeguard-delivered, school-based beach safety education program for a coastal community in New South Wales, Australia. Lifeguards and researchers (experts) provided structured feedback about the program in a survey and facilitated workshop; students (n = 26) aged 11 to 13 years participated in focus group sessions intended to garner in-depth understanding of their experiences at the beach and knowledge of, and attitudes towards, beach safety.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The co-design process provided a novel and inclusive model for beach safety education program development, and valuable lessons for future efforts. Specifically, student focus groups identified several facets of pre-teens and younger teenagers' beach experience that prompted revision of the education program, primarily framing of program content and safety messages. Peers are a primary motivator for this age group and students' burgeoning independence emerged as an important theme. While knowledgeable about beach hazards and risks, students conveyed mixed safety attitudes and self-reported safety practices, highlighting the importance of designing programs to motivate behaviour and promote safe decision-making vs raising awareness alone. Findings illustrate the value of adopting co-design processes for all beach safety programs, school or otherwise. SO WHAT?: Beach safety programs may not be delivering information that is needed, wanted or useful. Structured consultation with the priority population must become standard practice in beach safety and drowning prevention education program development.

Análisis del riesgo de ahogamiento asociado al entorno acuático y competencia natatoria

Un alto nivel de natación puede ser un factor protector ante el ahogamiento, sin embargo, esta relación todavía no ha sido empíricamente demostrada, en base al nivel de habilidad y entorno acuático. Este estudio diseñó una matriz de riesgo de ahogamiento en base al análisis probabilístico de un cuestionario respondido por 3.181 participantes. Se analizó la ocurrencia de Estrés/Distrés acuático (EDA) en base a 5 niveles de competencia y tres entornos acuáticos: a) Piscina sin olas ni corrientes, b) Lagos, embalses, ríos y playas sin olas ni corrientes, c) Ríos, playas o piscinas con olas y/o corrientes. Los resultados se expresaron en Odds Ratio (OR). El riesgo de EDA superó el OR de 25 en el entorno más peligroso y se incrementó para todos los escenarios conforme la competencia acuática era peor. Tres de cada cuatro nadadores han sufrido EDA y este evento pudo ser un incentivo para mejorar sus competencias acuáticas.

Building the Foundation of Aquatic Literacy in 4-6 Years-Old Children: A Systematic Review of Good Pedagogical Practices for Children and Parents

Children between the ages of 4-6 years represent the population most affected by drowning accidents, while their early involvement in physical activity, and more specifically in aquatic activities is a key factor in their future physical life journey. The systematic review's purpose was to identify aspects in the intervention's studies with children and/or their parents that had a significant impact on the Aquatic Literacy (AL) dimensions mentioned as motor, psychological, affective, and cognitive. The PICO method was used to define the research question and PRISMA checklist searched for articles in nine databases: Cochrane, Embase, ERIC, ProQuest, PsychInfo, PubMed, Scopus, SportDiscus, and Web of Science. Eligibility criteria were: (1) English language, (2) primary research, (3) population of 4-6 year old children or their parents, (4) intervention study design, and (5) results related to at least one of the AL domains. The strength of evidence and the risk of bias were assessed. Results showed relatively poor number of studies for such a vulnerable population regarding the drowning risk (n = 8 for parents and n = 14 for children intervention). Studies did not show a consensus on which educational approach was more beneficial than others. Concerning parental education, results were rather homogeneous, especially concerning the theoretical frameworks employed and the relevancy to include parents in swimming programs. The development of pedagogical tools for promotion and evaluation, based on the AL theoretical framework, could help to clarify the question of "how to teach" children to prevent drowning and engage young children in long-term physical activities.

Personality Dimensions of Serbian Lifeguards

According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global drowning report (2017), drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide. Drowning can occur anywhere there is water: oceans, seas, lakes, pools, bathtubs, rivers or water collection on the side of the road, etc. In many countries, there are drowning prevention programs for children and adults. The two most commonly used strategiesagainst drowning are the presence of lifeguards in public places and the use of protected areas that could prevent most of the drownings. The main aim of the present study is to examine the individual differences in a Big Five plus Two (BF+2) personality traits in lifeguards and non-lifeguards (including students). The subsample of lifeguards represented 122 male respondents who were, at the time of the survey, licensed as lifeguards (60.9%) or were in training for lifeguards—candidates (39.1%). The subsample of students represented 138 male respondents who were studying at the University of Novi Sad. The results indicate that lifeguards in comparison to students are more extraverted, open to experience, and conscientious, less neurotic, and aggressive. Both positive and negative valence are higher in student subsample. All of the above traits are desirable traits for people working as lifeguards.

Coastal drowning: A scoping review of burden, risk factors, and prevention strategies

OBJECTIVE

Coastal drowning is a global public health problem which requires evidence to support safety initiatives. The growing multidisciplinary body of coastal drowning research and associated prevention countermeasures is diverse and has not been characterised as a whole. The objective of this scoping review was to identify key concepts, findings, evidence and research gaps in the coastal drowning literature to guide future research and inform prevention activities.

METHODS

We conducted a scoping review to identify peer reviewed studies published before May 2020 reporting either (i) fatal unintentional coastal drowning statistics from non-boating, -disaster or -occupational aetiologies; (ii) risk factors for unintentional fatal coastal drowning; or (iii) coastal drowning prevention strategies. Systematic searches were conducted in six databases, two authors independently screened studies for inclusion and one author extracted data using a standardised data charting form developed by the study team.

RESULTS

Of the 146 included studies, the majority (76.7%) were from high income countries, 87 (59.6%) reported coastal drowning deaths, 61 (41.8%) reported risk factors, and 88 (60.3%) reported prevention strategies. Populations, data sources and coastal water site terminology in the studies varied widely; as did reported risk factors, which most frequently related to demographics such as gender and age. Prevention strategies were commonly based on survey data or expert opinion and primarily focused on education, lifeguards and signage. Few studies (n = 10) evaluated coastal drowning prevention strategies.

DISCUSSION

Coastal drowning is an expansive, multidisciplinary field that demands cross-sector collaborative research. Gaps to be addressed in coastal safety research include the lack of research from lower resourced settings, unclear and inconsistent terminology and reporting, and the lack of evaluation for prevention strategies. Advancing coastal drowning science will result in a stronger evidence base from which to design and implement effective countermeasures that ultimately save lives and keep people safe.