This is one of the few positive consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and of containment. Drowning incidents fell on average by 22% in June and July compared to previous years. According to Public Health France, this decrease is due to the closure of swimming pools due to Covid-19 and to the reduced use of beaches and bathing places.
No public swimming pools until June 22
Between June 1 and August 4, 596 emergency room visits for drowning incidents were recorded in France, compared to 811 last year at the same period and 723 the previous year. The analysis understands the term drowning in the broad sense: respiratory failure resulting from submersion or immersion in liquid medium, whether or not followed by death, according to the WHO definition.
Until June 22, public swimming pools, hotels, leisure centers and amusement parks were closed and access to beaches was restricted, which logically "reduced swimming", recalls the health agency . Since then, "the drop in tourist visits to certain regions, particularly by foreign tourists, has also had an impact." Finally, "the climatic conditions (temperatures, sunshine, rainfall) were generally less favorable in June and early July 2020 compared to the same periods in 2018 and 2019, despite an episode of high heat at the end of June 2020".
Children under 6 very exposed
Almost half (47%) of emergency room visits for drowning incidents recorded between June 1 and August 4 involved children under 6, a stable proportion compared to the previous two years. The decrease observed in emergencies concerns all regions except Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Corsica, Hauts-de-France and Pays-de-la-Loire, specifies Public Health France, adding that "the coastal regions remain those registering the greatest number of emergency calls for drowning over the period ”.
These figures come from the Oscour network, which identifies passages in most French emergency services. They give an indication of the evolution of drownings but do not count “those whose condition required a transfer to intensive care on arrival at the hospital and those who died at the place of drowning”. These last cases, the most serious, represent about half of accidental drownings, according to the latest comprehensive survey on this subject, carried out in 2018. At the origin of a thousand deaths per year, drownings are the leading cause of death accidental under 25, according to Public Health France.
Society
Five-year-old drowned after swimming in river in Charente
Miscellaneous
A young man dies in the Vosges after falling from his pedal boat
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