Drowning Deaths
• Unintentional drowning deaths accounted for 133 fatalities between 2000 – • In 15% of the drowning cases, the victims were pronounced dead on 2004, for an average of 27 drownings per year in Connecticut. Circumstances arrival at the hospital; an additional 23% expired in the emergency of drownings were not identified on the death certificate in over half of the department. Place of death was not indicated, however, in over 40% cases; of the remaining cases, 25.6% occurred in natural water (lakes, rivers, of cases ocean, streams), 11% occurred in swimming pools, and the remaining 7% took place in a bathtub • The cities and towns with the highest number of drowning deaths among residents were Hartford (8), Danbury (5), East Hartford (5), Meriden (5), Waterbury (5), Bridgeport (4), Bristol (4), Norwalk (4), Norwich (4) and Windham (4) • There were 1.5 times more drowning deaths (133) than hospitalizations (91) during the five-year period, which illustrates the lethality of drowning injuries • Both the number of drowning fatalities and causes were fairly evenly distributed between the under 40 and over 40 year old population (68 or 51.1%, versus 65 or 48.9%, respectively). The highest drowning rates occurred at the two extremes of the lifespan, among infants and young children (<1, and 1 – 4 years) and the elderly (80 – 84, and 85+ years) • With the sole exception of the 60 – 64 year old age group, males exhibited notably higher death rates from drowning than females in every age group • Overall, the death rate from drowning was 3 times higher among males (1.2 per 100,000 population) compared to females (0.4 per 100,000 population) • The Non-Hispanic Black population experienced a drowning rate twice that of the Non-Hispanic White population, and 33% higher than the Hispanic population. There were no drowning deaths among the Non- Hispanic Other Race population • Windham County suffered the highest drowning death rate in Connecticut during 2000 – 2004 (1.4 per 100,000 population), followed by New London at 1.1 per 100,000 population » Fairfield and New Haven Counties had the lowest rate at 0.6 per 100,000 population, closely followed by Tolland County at 0.7 per 100,000 population » Hartford, Litchfield and Middlesex counties all had a rate of 0.9 per 100,000 population
Unintentional Injury Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Intentional Injury 71 Figure 47 Unintentional Drowning* Deaths by Mechanism Connecticut Residents, 2000 - 2004 (n = 133; average = 27/year) ICD-Codes
15 In Swimming Pool (11.3%) W67-W68
34 In Natural Water (25.6%) W69-W70
75 (56.4%)
Other/Unspecified Drowning W73-W74
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Number of Deaths
*ICD-10 Codes: See Appendix
Unintentional Injury Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Intentional Injury 72 Figure 48 Drowning Death Rates by Mechanism & Age Connecticut Residents, 2000 - 2004 (n = 133; average = 27/year)
2.0
4
1.8 6
1.5
12 5 1.3
13 6
1.0 7
11 12 0.8
Rate per 100,000 Population 8 8 6 9
6 7 5 0.5 4 2 2
0.3
0.0 <1 1-4 5-9 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85+ -14 -19 -24 -29 -34 -39 -44 -49 -54 -59 -64 -69 -74 -79 -84 In natural water (n = 34) 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.7 0.2 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 In swimming pool (n = 15) 0.0 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.8 0.3 In bathtub (n = 9) 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.3 0.3 Other/Unspec drowning (n = 75) 1.4 0.7 0.3 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.3 1.1
Unintentional Injury Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Intentional Injury 73 Figure 49 Drowning Death Rates By Age & Sex Connecticut Residents, 2000 - 2004 (n = 133; average = 27/year)
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5 Rate per 100,000 Population
1.0
0.5
0.0 <1 1-4 5-9 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85+ -14 -19 -24 -29 -34 -39 -44 -49 -54 -59 -64 -69 -74 -79 -84 Males 2.7 2.0 0.8 1.1 1.4 0.6 1.1 0.9 1.2 1.0 1.1 2.1 0.6 0.9 0.8 2.1 0.5 2.8 3.8 Females 1.0 0.7 0.5 0.7 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.7 0.0 0.2 0.4 1.1 0.0 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.8
Unintentional Injury Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Intentional Injury 74 Figure 50 Drowning Death Rates per 100,000 Population by Sex, Race/Ethnicity & County of Residence Connecticut Residents, 2000 - 2004
By Sex By Race/Ethnicity (unknown = 18) By County of Residence
1.5 1.5 1.5 8
101 19 15
1.0 1.0 1.0 16 7 37 8 133 5 29 80 24
0.5 0.5 0.5 Rate per 100,000 Population 32
0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Males Females Total Population Non- Non- Hispanic Non- Fairfield Hartford Litchfield Middlesex New New Tolland Windham Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic Haven London White Black Other Race
Unintentional Injury Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Intentional Injury 75