Drowning in a Lifetime of Impact:
The Long-term Consequences of Surviving Drowning
By Christina Eichelkraut
The unspeakably tragic – but also completely avoidable – death of 3-year-old Trigg Kiser after drowning in a swimming pool has sparked a grimly familiar summer ritual for Arizonans: this year’s fresh round of reminders, admonitions and justifiably shrill calls to take the relatively simple steps that keep loved ones safe while they’re poolside.
It’s fairly well known that drowning is the leading cause of death for children from 1- to 4-years-old. The CDC logged an average of 4,083 drowning deaths per year from 2012 to 2021.
That is a devastating statistic, and more needs to be done to educate and advocate in ways that prevent those deaths.
But those victims are not the focus of this article.
Here at the Brain Injury Association of Arizona we see the other half of the drowning statistics table: the children (and sometimes adults) who survive a drowning incident, technically known as nonfatal drowning victims.
Those Who Survive Drowning Often Become Brain Injury Survivors
Unfortunately, the statistics for nonfatal drowning victims are not any better – and are actually much greater in number – than fatal drownings.
Though the statistics for 2024 are not available yet, we can safely deduce from trends of the past several years that a dire situation is not improving and, in fact, may be getting worse.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported 5,800 nonfatal drowning related injuries in 2020. About 80 percent of those involved children under 5-years-old.
That spiked by 17 percent in 2021 to 6,800 nonfatal drowning injuries (with 80 percent involving children under 5-years-old) and, unfortunately, remained largely the same – hovering around 6,400 nonfatal drowning injuries – for the next two years.
But it’s the statistic buried within the stats that is the most concerning. According to the CPSC 2024 report “Pool or Spa Submersion: Estimated Nonfatal Drowning Injuries and Reported Drownings”, about 40 percent of nonfatal drowning victims require specialized hospitalization or long-term care, frequently due to permanent disability. Most often, this is brain injury from hypoxia, a condition that results from a lack of oxygen to the brain.
The Long-Term Needs of Drowning Survivors
Nonfatal drowning victims who have to live the rest of their lives with a disability – or, sometimes several – require long-term or lifetime care. This can mean accessible or specialized educational environments, sometimes home health care assistance, or a lifetime of comprehensive therapeutic services that range from speech therapy to physical therapy. A nonfatal drowning survivor may require accessibility devices, whether a wheelchair or specialized software to assist with reading what’s on a screen.
None of this is free, or even affordable, even for dual-income middle class households. The vast majority of these services and accommodations fall within the purview of public safety net programs such as Medicaid or nonprofit organizations that fill the gaps still left from government funding. These programs are essential threads that hold our country’s social fabric together. But increasingly, those threads are being pulled on and may be at risk of being undone completely…leaving many nonfatal drowning victims without a net to catch them.
Even in high-functioning drowning survivors, what may appear to be a full or almost-full recovery can still permanently change the brain. For example, teens who survive a drowning incident and sustain a brain injury as a result may be at a higher risk for substance misuse.
A Note on High-Functioning Adults with Disabilities Acting as Lifeguards
High functioning adults with disabilities are frequently de facto babysitters or lifeguards on duty when kids are playing in a backyard swimming pool.
We gently encourage those who are survivors of brain injury to consider how any brain injury may impact their ability to stay extremely vigilant for an extended period of time. Supervision – active, attentive supervision – is a main preventative measure when it comes to drowning.
The Good News
Children drowning is a dark shadow that darkens bright summer skies, but there is some good news in terms of prevention. Many programs support prevention efforts in a number of ways, from free pool gate installation to swimming lessons and first-aid classes.
Should the unthinkable occur, however, and a person is left with a brain injury after a drowning incident, BIAAZ is here with compassionate support and resource facilitation. Call our helpline at (888) 500-9165 or visit www.biaaz.org.
Christina Eichelkraut is a former print journalist who founded Christina Copy Co. in 2011. When her keyboard isn’t clacking, she bakes complex artisan bread, nerds out on political science, uses her fountain pens to write to pen pals the world over, and reads long past her bedtime in a joyful disregard of her alleged adulthood. Christina earned her B.A. in Mass Communications with an emphasis in print journalism in 2006 from Franklin Pierce University.
ABOUT BRAIN INJURY ASSOCIATION OF ARIZONA
The Brain Injury Association of Arizona (BIAAZ) is the only statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of adults and children with all types of brain injuries through prevention, advocacy, awareness and education. BIAAZ also houses the Arizona Brain Health Resource Center, a collection of educational information and neuro-specific resources for brain injury survivors, caregivers, family members and professionals.
What began in 1983 as a grassroots effort has grown into a strong statewide presence, providing valuable life-long resources and community support for individuals with all types of brain trauma at no charge.