Water Safety

  • Every day, about ten people die from unintentional drowning. Of these, two are children aged 14 or younger. Drowning ranks fifth among the leading causes of unintentional injury death in the United States.

In Maryland

  • In Maryland, drowning was the 2nd leading cause of death for children aged 0-4 in 2012. Drowning was the 3rd leading cause of death for children aged 5-14.2
  • There was a total of 64 drowning related deaths and 18.75% of those were among the 55-64 age group.2

 

Boating

  • In 2014, the Coast Guard counted 4,064 accidents that involved 610 deaths, 2,678 injuries, and approximately 39 million dollars of damage to property as a result of recreational boating accident.3
  • The fatality rate was 5.2 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels. This rate represents a 14.8% increase from last year’s fatality rate of 4.7 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels.3
  • Compared to 2013, the number of accidents increased .05%, the number of deaths increased 8.9%, and the number of injuries increased 2.2%.3

 

References

1. http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Water-Safety/waterinjuries-factsheet.html

2. Maryland Department of Mental Health and Hygiene. (2012). Injuries in Maryland-2012 Statistics on Injury Related, Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations, and Death. http://phpa.dhmh.maryland.gov/ohpetup/Shared%20Documents/Injuries%20in%20Maryland%202012%20Statistics%20on%20Injury-related%20Emergency%20Department%20Visits,%20Hospitalizations%20and%20Death.pdf

3. http://www.uscgboating.org/library/accident-statistics/Recreational-Boating-Statistics-2014.pdf