EMS & Trauma Registries 2013 Submersion Report

Injury Epidemiology & Surveillance Branch Environmental & Injury Epidemiology & Toxicology Unit Environmental Epidemiology and Disease Registries Section Department of State Health Services

Inclusion Criteria: Submersion Registry • As per Texas Administrative Code, Title 25, Chapter 103, ALL

submersion injuries must be reported by physicians, hospitals, medical examiners, and justices of the peace (§103.4).

• A submersion injury (or drowning) is defined as the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion/ immersion in liquid. • This can be fatal OR non-fatal

• This summary report only includes data on records that were reported to the registry through a passive surveillance system

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Drowning in Texas, 2013

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3 *In this report, pediatric is defined as less than 18 years old

437 Drownings Reported to the Registry

315 Pediatric*

(72%)

35 Fatal (11%)

241 Non-Fatal (77%)

39 Unknown (12%)

118 Adult (27%)

47 Fatal (40%)

36 Non-Fatal (30%)

35 Unknown (30%)

4 Unknown (1%)

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Overview:

• 65.7% Male

• 57.7% White, 24.7% Hispanic

• 18.8% fatal

• 51.7% less than 5 years old

• 39.8% occurred in a pool, hot tub, or spa

• 45.3% in June and July

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*In 2013 there were 3 drowning patients with unknown age and sex

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8

77

20

8

5

5

1

5

4

2

7

2

2

10

129

40

13

9

17

12

11

11

14

6

11

2

150 100 50 0 50 100 150

< 1 year

1-4

5-9

10-14

15-19

20-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65-74

75-84

85+

Drownings by Age and Sex, Texas 2013 (n=434)

Male

Female

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6 Out of these: • 62.9% males • 80.8% children 5 and younger

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*In 2013 there were 2 pediatric drowning patients with unknown sex

8 20 22

20 15

9 4 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 2

0

10 36 36

32 25

20 11

4 3 2 1 2 3

6 1 1

4 0

150 100 50 0 50 100 150

<1123456789

1011121314151617

Pediatric Drownings (<18 years old) by Age and Sex, Texas 2013 (n=313)

Male

Female

• 53.0% of pediatric drownings occurred in a pool, hot tub, or spa • 47.5% of adult drownings occurred in an open body of water

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*Open bodies of water include: lakes, ponds, rivers, creeks, and the ocean

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28

167

28

6

86

2 7

56

22 31

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Bathtub Pool/ Hot tub/ Spa Open Body ofWater*

Other Unknown

Drownings by Scene and Age, Texas 2013 (n=433)

Child

Adult

Percent Fatal:

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8 45.7% 14.3% 12.6% 72.7% 16.3%

There were 78 drownings with an unknown outcome in 2013

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4

20

37

8 13

24

139

44

3

67

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Bathtub Pool/ Hot tub/Spa

Open Body ofWater

Other Unknown

Drownings with Known Outcome by Scene, Texas 2013 (n=359)

Fatal

Non-Fatal

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Single Family 31.4%

Multi Family 13.7%

Hotel/ Motel 2.5%

Community Center/ Park 8.0%

Beach 1.8%

Other 15.3%

Unknown 27.2%

Drownings by Location, Texas 2013 (n=437)

Fatal Drownings

• Out of those with a known outcome:

• 12.7% of pediatric drownings were fatal

• 56.6% of adult drownings were fatal

• 45.1% of fatal drownings took place in an open body of water

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13 10

25 19

42

106

92

68

23 16

10 13

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov DecMonth of Incident

Drownings by Month of Incident, Texas 2013 (n=437)

Supervision During Drowning Incidents

If the child was less than 15 years old, was he/she supervised? • Of the 307 children <15 years old, 77.9% (239) were

being supervised during the drowning incident • Out of these 239: • 48.1% (115) of the supervisors were aware the child was

involved in a water activity • 19.7% (47) witnessed the drowning event

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Alcohol Use in Drowning Incidents Among Adults (18 and older), Texas 2013

Count % No, Lab Confirmed 13 11.0% No, Not Suspected 27 22.9%

Suspected 9 7.6% Yes, Lab Confirmed 18 15.3%

Unknown 51 43.2% Total 118 100.0%

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Reported Drownings by TSA of Incident, Texas 2013 TSA Frequency Percent

A 3 0.7% B 3 0.7% C 2 0.5% D 8 1.8% E 119 27.2% F 2 0.5% G 6 1.4% H 2 0.5% I 14 3.2% J 4 0.9% K 1 0.2% L 14 3.2% M 6 1.4% N 4 0.9% O 40 9.2% P 2 0.5% Q 44 10.1% R 32 7.3% S 7 1.6% T 0 0% U 26 5.9% V 16 3.7%

Unknown/ Out of State 82 18.8% Total 437 100%

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15 NOTE: There were a total of 437 submersions reported to the registry in 2013. For 82 of these incidents, the county of occurrence is not known. These counts include both fatal and non-fatal drownings, as well as submersions in both enclosed bodies of water (pools, hot tubs, jacuzzis, spas, bathtubs, toilets, buckets, farm cattle tanks) and open bodies of water (lakes, ponds, rivers, creeks, beaches, bays, the ocean).

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s Number of Reported Drownings by County of Incidence, Texas 2013

WEBSITE: www.dshs.state.tx.us/injury/data EMAIL: injury.web@dshs.state.tx.us

DATA: www.dshs.state.tx.us/injury/data/

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Injury Epidemiology & Surveillance Branch Department of State Health Services 1100 West 49th St. Austin, Texas 78714

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