Drownings in bathtubs prompt safety alert

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This article was published 24/06/2019 (2328 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Drowning in bathtubs is a risk unrecognized by many Manitobans, the Lifesaving Society Manitoba says.

Chris Love, the society’s water smart coordinator, said people — especially toddlers and seniors — can drown in an inch of water, which is about two and a half centimetres.

Love said while the number of bathtub drownings is low, compared to the 39 per cent of drownings in rivers, 38 per cent in lakes or ponds, and 10 per cent in ditches, there are now enough for the Lifesaving Society to tally the deaths in their own category in its annual report on drownings in Manitoba.

“Now, five per cent of the deaths are in bathtubs,” he said on Monday. “That’s maybe four who drowned. All you need is enough to cover the nose and mouth.

“For small children, there needs to be close parental supervision. The child needs to be in arms’ reach so the parent can grab them or the child can get them.”

Love said toddlers aged up to four years, and seniors, are the leading victims in bathtub drownings.

“With seniors, it is slip and fall and end up face down in the water. With zero to four years of age it is due to a lack of adult supervision or the adult is not around or distracted. But someone can die in as little as 10 seconds if there is no air in their lungs because they didn’t expect it to happen.

“We don’t want this to happen. Even one drowning death is one death too many.”

As for bodies of water, Love said everybody needs to wear a lifejacket or personal floatation device (PFD).

“In Manitoba, the lack of lifejacket use when they should be worn is a continuing issue,” he said.

“Manitoba continues to meet or exceed the national average with 86 per cent of boating fatalities not wearing a lifejacket.”

Other statistics from the report include that males account for 81 per cent of the province’s drowning deaths, 71 per cent of drownings here occur between May to September, 15 per cent of drowning victims are seniors aged 65 and higher followed by young children from birth to four years of age at 13 per cent, and 100 per cent of young adults weren’t wearing a PFD when they drowned.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca