Nursing Essay Example on Reducing Child Drowning

Drowning ranks third among the most common cause for unintentional injuries and deaths among children under 15 years in developed countries. The top two causes include motor vehicles and fires. The rates and incidences of drowning vary from one locality to another. For instance, areas with elevated temperatures allow longer swimming periods and have higher numbers of swimming pools. Consequently, drowning rates are higher there. Similarly, age is a critical factor that determines the rates and nature of drowning cases among children. Younger children with limited mobility skills are more likely to drown in in-house bathtubs, while older kids with developed mobility skills tend to drown in actual swimming pools.

Incidences of drowning among children present trying situations to emergency departments and intensive care units (ICUs) as they demand engaging significant human and medical resources. On the other hand, the more significant is the fact that mortality rates across emergency incidences of drowning minors are as high as 50%. This implies that the chances of survival are much lower than in car accidents. Moreover, even where survival occurs, the complications left behind may impose significant health issues, often for a lifetime (Thompson & Rivara, 1998).

On the other hand, preventing drowning requires much less effort than saving procedures, with an appropriate structural arrangement of the pools. The standard safety procedures in swimming pools are that children should only be allowed to swim in the presence of a trainer or an adult. However, situations occur when children gain access to the swimming pool premises in the absence of an adult or a trainer. These are the situations that lead to most incidences of drowning among minors.

Thus, the primary gap casing drowning in minors is the unmonitored access to swimming pools. The best strategy to overcome this barrier is erecting physical fences around the swimming pools. When children cannot access a swimming pool, the incidences of drowning caused by its unmonitored use reduce significantly. Local authorities on public health should continually assess the swimming pools within their localities to ensure they meet safety criteria, especially in regard to the quality of fencing and adherence to drowning prevention guidelines (Thompson & Rivara, 1998).