Drowning mortality in Los Angeles County, 1976 to 1984
P. W. O'Carroll, E. Alkon and B. Weiss
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.
Drowning is the fourth leading cause of unintentional injury death in Los
Angeles County. We examined data collected by the Los Angeles County
Coroner's Office on drownings that occurred in the county from 1976 through
1984. There were 1587 drownings (1130 males and 457 females) during this
nine-year period, for an annual rate of 2.36 drownings per 100,000 persons
(3.44 for males and 1.33 for females). The largest proportion of drownings
(44.5%) for both sexes, and in almost every age group, occurred in private
swimming pools. Children 2 to 3 years of age had the highest swimming-pool
drowning rate (7.95). The elderly also experienced high drowning rates,
primarily in swimming pools and bathtubs. Drowning-site profiles varied
dramatically by age and sex. These findings indicate a need for Los Angeles
County to address the problem of drownings among infants and toddlers in
private swimming pools and to investigate the failure of regulations
requiring fencing of swimming pools to prevent these deaths. These findings
also suggest several potential opportunities for preventive intervention by
physicians and demonstrate that health professionals cannot rely on
national drowning-site profiles when developing local drowning prevention
strategies.
