Giving Compass' Take:

• Heather Cooper reports that the American Academy of Pediatrics is working to help pediatricians educate families about water safety to prevent drownings. 

• How can funders work to effectively increase awareness about water safety? 

• Read about catalytic philanthropy for public health.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is taking further action to educate about water safety. They recently revised their policy statement, Prevention of Drowning, to help pediatricians teach families about drowning risk and provide prevention strategies that are tailored to each family.

“We know from data that pediatricians don’t spend much time talking about drowning prevention. They have so much to cover in very limited time with families — development, mental health, school readiness or progress, the list goes on. Drowning kind of falls to the bottom,” said Dr. Linda Quan, co-author of the policy statement, and an emergency physician at Seattle Children’s. “What we wanted to do with this policy is highlight that some families are at higher risk for drowning and we can tailor education to their specific risk.”

The age of the child matters when it comes to risk for drowning. Children ages 1 to 4 have the highest drowning rates, with drowning causing more deaths of children in this age range than anything else, other than birth defects. Most drownings in young kids occur in bathtubs and swimming pools.

Teens ages 15 to 19 have the second highest rates of drowning. In the Pacific Northwest, most teen drownings occur in lakes and rivers.

“In the Seattle area, we’re surrounded by water. Even if your child doesn’t do water activities when they’re young, when they’re older, they may hang out with a buddy who wants to go to the lake, or they may make a friend who has access to a boat,” said Quan. “Teens can get around and go to places unsupervised.”

Read the full article about working to reduce drowning by Heather Cooper at On the Pulse.