FAMILY MEDICINE® COLUMN
By John C. Wolf, D.O.
Associate Professor of Family Medicine®
Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine

NO ALCOHOL, LEARNING CPR AND WATCHING KIDS = GOOD WATER SAFETY

Question: My family and I play on the water most weekends of the summer. We boat, ski and swim in the river. I'm always worried about someone drowning. Do you have any advice to help us minimize this risk?

Answer: Drowning is a major cause of accidental death in the United States. In 1997, the most recent year for which complete statistics are available, 4,051 people drowned, including 964 children under the age of 15. The circumstance of each death is unique, but a close examination of the data show certain unfortunate patterns. These lethal combinations include: young children in backyard swimming pools, inattentive swimmers who get in the way of boats in lakes and rivers, and experienced swimmers who make fatal judgment errors. In all of these situations, alcohol is frequently a contributing factor. This may involve adolescent or adult swimmers whose judgments are impaired by drinking or adults who become inebriated while they are supervising children in the water.

You can reduce your family's risk of death in a water accident by encouraging each teenage and adult family member to enroll in a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) course. My medical dictionary defines resuscitation as the restoration to life of one who is apparently dead. That pretty well says why CPR is so important, and the sooner it is started, the more likely it is to restore life to a drowning victim. If you have the training, you might save a life by starting CPR before EMS personnel arrive on the scene. If you don't know basic CPR, I'd suggest you contact your local American Heart Association chapter for information about courses in your area.

Equally important, you should insist that each family member receive sufficient instruction to become a competent swimmer. This includes adults that may have missed the opportunity to master this skill when they were children. The area Red Cross can direct you to swimming lessons. As you may have gathered from my earlier statement, one of the biggest risks for your family may be alcohol. Thirty-eight percent of men and 11 percent of women involved in water-related accidents, including drowning, had been drinking alcoholic beverages. While the quantities they consumed were often enough to make them legally drunk, you should know that even a small quantity of alcohol slows your reflexes and mildly impairs your ability to make critical decisions. This is why I think it's foolish to have any alcohol before swimming, water skiing or operating a boat because of the potentially severe consequences of an error in judgment.

People who dive into shallow water can sustain one of the more serious water-related injuries -- paralysis due to injury of the spinal cord and neck. The easiest way to prevent this tragedy is to familiarize yourself with the area you're diving in. It's a good idea to carefully go feet first into the water before your first dive. That way, you'll know the water level and you'll find out about any dangerous objects under the surface that can't be seen from the shore or from within the boat. Also, remember that the water levels in familiar lakes, streams and rivers can change from day to day and from season to season.

Here are a few final suggestions to help prevent a needless summertime tragedy in your family: Watch young children CONSTANTLY when they are near water. Individuals of any age should not "horse around" on the bank of a stream, on a water slide, or while in a boat. Don't venture into unfamiliar water alone. Don't take chances. Wear a personal flotation device whenever you are in a water craft or on water skis. And, if a child who doesn't know how to swim is in the water, make sure he or she is with an adult swimmer at all times and has on an approved flotation device. NEVER, let a child substitute a blow-up tube or similar device for an approved flotation device.

Family Medicine® is a weekly column. To submit questions, write to John C. Wolf, D.O., Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Grosvenor Hall, Athens, Ohio 45701. Past columns are available online at http://www.FamilyMedicineNews.org.