Child Drowning

Table 6 shows the severity of the non-fatal drowning events in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China (Jiangxi
Province) and Thailand.
Table 6: Severity of non-fatal child drowning events, by country, children 0-17 years old
Country
Surveyed
Moderate:
Sought medical
care/missed at
least one day
school or work
Major:
Hospitalized
1-9 days
Injury Severity Levels
Serious:
Hospitalized
more than 9
days
Severe:
Permanent
physical
disability
Proportion of
non-fatal
drowning in
total injury
morbidity
Bangladesh 94% 6% 7.2%
Cambodia 79% 15% 4% 2% 1.0%
Jiangxi,
China
81% 15% 4% 0.5%
Thailand 62% 31% 7% 1.4%
Source: Survey data from the countries included, Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey (BHIS) 2002, Cambodia Accident and Injury Survey (CAIS)
2006, Jiangxi (China) Injury Survey (JIS) 2005 and Thailand National Injury Survey (TNIS) 2003.
In all the countries surveyed, the overwhelming majority of non-fatal drowning cases were classified as
moderate, which is the least severe category. This underscores the nature of child drowning in LMICs
where drowning either kills children or leaves them relatively unharmed. This is primarily due to the lack
of trained responders in the community, which means that no rescue and resuscitation occurs and a
drowning child is left to rescue him or herself.
It is notable that in Thailand the severity distribution is different, with less than two thirds (62 per cent)
of non-fatal drowning in the moderate category, and with almost one third (31 per cent) in the major
category and 7 per cent in the serious category. In contrast to Bangladesh, Cambodia and Jiangxi
Province, China, which are categorized as low income, Thailand is now a middle-income country. That
stage of development is characterized by an education system that may allow more community
members to be first responders and a development level has expanded emergency response outreach
capacity from hospitals into communities.
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