The ZAC Foundation believes addressing the nation’s drowning crisis requires a whole community approach informed by, and reflective of, the realities specific to individual communities, including the makeup of the local population and cultural attitudes toward water safety – whether they are located on coasts, lakes, and rivers or if they are tourist destinations with visitors of varying swimming ability.

With drowning as the third leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide, the World Health Organization recommends that all countries create a water safety plan that addresses a nation’s drowning problem. While not having the highest drowning rate, the U.S. does have a drowning rate higher than in Australia, the UK, Austria, Barbados, and Jamaica, for example.

Every day in the U.S., about 10 people die from unintentional drowning. Of these, two are children aged 14 or younger. Drowning ranks fifth among the leading causes of unintentional injury death in the U.S.

According to the WHO, coastal drowning in the United States alone accounts for $273 million each year in direct and indirect costs.

The ZAC Foundation is deeply involved in the development of the U.S. National Water Safety Action Plan through its membership on the Steering Committee and funding of project-related grants.

The planning process draws from knowledge and experience from key stakeholders across the U.S. to create a comprehensive, evidence-based, realistic, and executable plan, expected to launch in 2022.

Our Approach to Drowning Prevention:

Building A Drowning Prevention Plan: Our Focus Areas

The plan will focus on several areas, including:

  • Data and public health surveillance: The ZAC Foundation is partnering with organizations to actively monitor data surrounding fatal and non-fatal drownings.
  • Supervision/lifeguards: 2021’s National lifeguard shortage has brought about an additional challenge that is a crucial factor in maintaining water safety. Lifeguards play a key role in ensuring a safe environment for swimmers at pools and public beaches. The ZAC Foundation works with organizations to create standards of supervision, lifeguard recertifications, and more. Read more about our POV on the lifeguard shortage in 2021.
  • Life jackets/personal flotation devices: We work to increase the use of Coast Guard certified and approved life jackets as a means of keeping children safe in water.
  • Rescue/CPR training: Addressing CPR and rescue training among water watchers is key to water safety.
  • Barriers, entrapment, electrical safety: Our water safety guide discusses using fences and other pool safety gear as a way of creating additional barriers to the water. We review standards, regulations and codes for any gear that may reduce unsupervised access to water.
  • Swimming lessons: The ZAC Foundation works alongside our partners to build water competency among children across the nation. We identify water-safe behaviors and work to develop policies around water safety education for children of all ages.

The Process and Timeline for Building a National Water Safety Plan

The creation of the National Water Safety Plan has been a 3-stage process and is set to be completed in late 2022.

  • Stage 1 – Completed – All committee members reviewed the existing national plan to inform the new framework for a U.S Plan. As a result, the committee developed a framework that supports a 10-year plan focusing on six evidence based drowning prevention strategies. The framework will inform models for water safety at national, state, and local levels, and the progress against all models will be reassessed every 5 years.
  • Stage 2 – In Progress – The committee will establish focus areas to identify best practices, data and gaps at national, state, and community levels to guide goals, objectives, and actions for recommended models at all levels.
  • Stage 3 – Pending – The committee will convene a high-level expert panel to finalize the plan.

Drowning Prevention: Actions Taken Thus Far

 

The ZAC Foundation is working with drowning prevention stakeholders, including swim safety advocates, elected officials, public policy and health experts, school officials, families, and community leaders, in four U.S. communities — Central Texas, St. Louis, MO, Chicago, IL, and Greenwich/Fairfield County, CT – where there is need and deep community engagement.

TZF has established Regional Drowning Prevention Task Forces in these communities so they can develop goal-oriented, time-bound community Drowning Prevention Action Plans. While the ultimate goal of this work is to reduce the drowning rate and improve water safety, we hope that these regional activities also lead to the development of a national drowning prevention plan.

The work of these Regional Drowning Prevention Task Forces has included:

  • Working with a local utility company to include drowning prevention and water safety tips in a monthly newsletter
  • Developing a better data collection tool for Task Force partners to capture fatal and nonfatal drownings
  • Posting new, improved signage indicating when lifeguards are not on duty at lakefronts and when riptides are present
  • Partnering with after school programs to develop water safety curriculums
  • Working with local first responders on water safety rescue training and updating rescue equipment
  • Developing a public education campaign to inform the public on how to accurately report the nature and location of a water emergency

Steering Committee Partners in Building a National Drowning Prevention Plan

The ZAC Foundation is an engaged partner within the Steering Committee for the National Water Safety Action Plan. We collaborate with the organizations and stakeholders below to provide strategic oversight as the plan is developed nationwide.

Committee Members

  • Dr. Linda Quan, Pediatrician and Researcher, American Academy of Pediatrics
  • Connie Harvey, Director of the Aquatics Centennial Initiative, American Red Cross
  • David Bell, Aquatics Subcommittee, Boy Scouts of America
  • Rebecca Wear Robinson, Founder and President, Make the Minute Matter
  • Adam Katchmarchi, Executive Director, National Drowning Prevention Alliance
  • Morag MacKay, Director of Research, Safe Kids Worldwide (Committee Chair)
  • Megan Ferraro, Executive Director, The ZAC Foundation
  • Tina Dessart, Program Director, USA Swimming Foundation
  • Lindsay Mondick, Director, Innovative Priorities – Movement Services, YMCA of the USA

 

The ZAC Foundation hopes this plan will transform water safety in the United States, as well as help save lives today and for generations to come. If you’d like to learn more, visit the Water Safety USA NWSAP website.

 

~4000
people drown each year

Make swimming fun and safe for those you care about.

Sign up for emails about year-round water safety.

SUBSCRIBE