Office of Injury Prevention
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Early Childhood Drowning PreventionDrowning Prevention in Florida
Florida loses more children under age five to drowning than any other state. Annually in Florida, enough children to fill three to four preschool classrooms drown and do not live to see their fifth birthday. Florida overwhelmingly has the highest unintentional drowning rate in the nation for the 1–4 year old age group with a rate of 7.5 per 100,000 population (Nevada was second for this age group with a rate of 5.07) for 2005–2007. Alaska, Hawaii, and Florida have the highest overall unintentional drowning rates in the nation between 2005–2007, with rates of 3.5, 2.8, and 2.1 per 100,000 population, respectively. The soaring rate for the 1–4 year old age group drives up Florida’s overall rate, so if we can impact the 1–4 year old rate, we can also make an impact on Florida’s overall rate. 
For more information regarding Drowning Prevention:Florida’s Injury Prevention Strategic PlanThe 2004–2008 Florida Strategic Injury Prevention Plan contained Goal #5 “Increase the use of evidence-based injury prevention interventions statewide.” Florida Injury Prevention Advisory Council Goal Team #5 researched scientific studies to find the evidence-based injury prevention interventions for drowning prevention. The 2009–2013 Injury Prevention Strategic Plan Goal #4 is to establish a collaborative effort to provide statewide direction and focus for drowning prevention efforts for children ages 0–4. The goal and goal team members will seek demonstration evidence-based prevention intervention projects that may be replicated statewide. For more information please see the Florida Injury Prevention Advisory Council page. Drowning Prevention Awareness Campaigns2006–2009 CampaignsFrom 2006–2009, the Office of Injury Prevention facilitated yearly early childhood drowning prevention awareness campaigns in the top counties in Florida with the highest number of drowning deaths in the 1–4 age group. The theme for the campaign, “Keep Your Eyes on the Kids,” emphasized that active adult supervision is the most effective drowning prevention strategy for the 1–4 year old age group. Funding and materials were provided to the county health departments who then worked with local partners, including local Children’s Medical Services (CMS) offices and Safe Kids chapters and coalitions, to carry out drowning prevention awareness activities. Through the campaign some county health departments formed public/private partnerships and secured additional funding for early childhood drowning prevention activities. On May 28, 2009, the Office of Injury Prevention hosted a 2009 Drowning Prevention Awareness Campaign Networking Meeting in Tampa, Florida. This meeting provided the top counties an opportunity to share successes and challenges of the 2009 campaign. Traditional and non-traditional partnerships, marketing materials and funding opportunities were also topics of discussion. 2006–2009 Campaign Documents
WaterproofFL — Pool Safety is Everyone’s Responsibility In 2010, the Office of Injury Prevention worked with a media advertising firm to develop a new campaign, “WaterproofFL — Pool Safety is Everyone’s Responsibility.” The campaign emphasizes layers of protection: supervision, barriers, and emergency preparedness, and follows national recommendations. WaterproofFL.com was developed to allow stakeholders and interested community members to download the campaign materials and information. 
Water Watcher Pledge
Drowning Prevention Pilot ProjectsIn October 2006, after the Drowning Prevention Awareness Campaign, the two counties with the highest number of drownings in the 1–4 year old age group, Broward and Miami-Dade, were selected to participate in drowning prevention pilot projects. The purpose of the pilot projects was to determine which drowning prevention best practices work within their communities. Best practices successful within Broward and Miami-Dade may be replicated within other Florida communities. Both county health departments contracted with Nova Southeastern University to examine the drowning prevention awareness among families with residential pools in Broward and Miami-Dade communities. For further information see the Drowning Prevention Awareness Study, June 2007 (Provided below).
Pilot Project DocumentsDrowning Prevention Materials
Water Safety ChecklistsDrowning Prevention BrochuresWaterproofFL MaterialsDownload printable WaterproofFL safety brochures, posters, Water Watcher tags, the WaterproofFL Brand Standards Manual, or view the 10-minute safety video (some items are available in both English and Spanish), from WaterproofFL.com. Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing. For more information contact the Office of Injury Prevention or call (850)245-4440. This page was updated on December 20, 2011. |
