In 1997, more than 200 children ages 14 and under suffered personal watercraft-related injuries while on the water. Drowning fatality rates are higher in southern and western states than in other regions of the United States. Rural areas have higher death rates than urban or suburban areas, in part due to decreased access to emergency medical care. RISK Children ages 4 and under have the highest drowning death rate, a rate two to three times greater than other age groups, and account for more than 40 percent of home drownings. These drownings typically occur in swimming pools and bathtubs.
Male children have a drowning rate two to four times that of female children.
However, females have a bathtub drowning rate twice the rate of males. Black children ages 14 and under have a drowning death rate that is two times greater than white children, in general and six times greater for drownings involving buckets. However, white children ages 1 to 4 have a drowning death rate that is twice that of black children, primarily from residential swimming pool drownings. Among children hospitalized for near-drownings, prolonged submersion and time until resuscitative efforts are initiated, as well as hypothermia, are strongly associated with poor outcomes. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has developed voluntary guidelines, which include both education and labeling, to address the hazard of children drowning in five-gallon buckets.