Inland Water Research

Supported by

What Do We Presently Know?

• In the last 13 years (1989 –2001) 3,556 people have drowned on lakes, rivers, reservoirs, streams and canals in Great Britain.

• An average of 270 people drown a year

• 81.1% (2,877) male and 18.9% (673) female

• There is no national picture of inland water incident data

DemographyDrowning

Incidence Rates• Males over 80

(1.32 per 100,000 p.a)

• Male 15-29 (1.12 per 100,000 p.a)

• Female rate increases with age

• 75-79 years (0.34 per 100,000 p.a)

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Male Drownings Female Drownings Male Rate Female Rate

Seasonal Trends

• Highest between May and August

• Accounting for 42% (1,491) of the total number of drownings

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Annual count 3 year average

Cause and Water Body• 63.9% (2,268) occurred in Rivers• 23% (815) in Lakes, Reservoirs and Lochs• 12.6% (449) in Canals

• In 43.7% (1557) cause was unknown• 15% (531) entered the water involuntary• 8.6% (309) swimming• 6.4% (230) in a vehicle• 5.5% (199) boating• 3.1% (113) fishing

Age Groups of Concern• 15 – 29 Age Group

– 93.3% (854) Males– 35.4% (302) ‘Got into difficulties’– 12.4% (115) were drunk– 11.4% (97) were in a vehicle that entered the water– 27.9% (239) of these drownings occurred in May and June– Females 25% (15) in a vehicle that entered the water

• 85 and Over Age Group– 66.1% (39) Male, 33.8% (20) Female– 22% (13) went missing from home– 8.5% (5) had a plausible medical condition – 6.8% (4) suffered from mental illness – 33.8% (20) of these drownings occurred in April

Average Drowning per 100 Kilometres per River / Canal

• 0.65 drownings per 100 KM of Canal per year

• 0.51 drownings per 100 KM of Rivers per year

Geography

Drownings by County

• Highest frequency are Urban Conurbations– London

– Greater Manchester

– West Midlands

– Glasgow

• Highest Rural County– Hereford and Worcester

Correlations

• Significant correlations between regions with more linear features and the number of drownings

• No significant relationship between the area of enclosed features in a region and the number of drownings

Inland Drowning Summary

• Males - most aged between 15-29• Male rate of drowning four times that of females

the same age• Seasonal trend coincides with warmer months and

holiday periods• Canals appear to have a marginally higher

incidence of drownings than rivers• Requirement for formal data collection process

that is objective rather than subjective

What We Need to Know - Incident Data

• INland Waters Related EMergency Database INREM

• Aim– To provide a central point from where information, in

a standard format, relating to incidents at inland water sites that can be obtained by the participating organisations / agencies

Feasibility Study • Undertaken August ‘01 – August ’02

• Focused on 3 main areas CumbriaThames ValleyStrathclyde and Lothian and Borders Regions

• Covering approximately 1/5 of the Emergency Services, Operators, Owners, Voluntary Services, Government Agencies and National Governing Bodies

Feasibility Study FindingsThe data is available, however there is some

clarification required;• Reporting systems vary• Differing data storage systems• Data quality• Definitions and Codings• Level of data collection• Internal and external communications between

organisations• Grey area of responsibility for co-ordination

between Police and MCA (tidal and non tidal boundaries)

Case Study Cumbria

INREM’s Future Development• Phase 1: Initial Research

• All ready completed and reported to the NWSC

• Phase 2: Detailed Research / Scoping and Feasibility of establishing an INREM database

• 2002 / 2003

• Phase 3: Establishment of INREM database• Late 2003 / 2004

Conclusions• Inland drowning data is currently fragmented and

inadequate.

• There is an identifiable need to create a picture of the of inland water incidents– Improve analysis of causation and trends

– Identify problem areas

– Improve targeting and promotion of water safety initiatives

• INREM needs your help!