Pool fencing for preventing drowning in children.

In most industrialized countries, drowning ranks second or third behind motor vehicles and fires as a cause of unintentional injury deaths to children under the age of 15. Death rates from drowning are highest in children less than five years old. Pool fencing is a passive environmental intervention designed to reduce unintended access to swimming pools and thus prevent drowning in the preschool age group. Because of the magnitude of the problem and the potential effectiveness of fencing we decided to evaluate the effect of pool fencing as a drowning prevention strategy for young children.