2023-07-07 14:29:00
The number of drownings is high at the start of the summer. The numbers are similar to 2022 and 2021, but drownings are more fatal.
by MI with AFP Active and permanent monitoring of young children, learning to swim as early as possible, choice of secure areas, vigilance in the face of the weather are among the recommendations. © MICHEL CLEMENTZ MICHEL CLEMENTZ / MAXPPP / PHOTOPQR/L’INDEPENDANT
While the school holidays officially begin this Friday evening, July 7, and many families seek to cool off in a swimming pool, a lake or at the sea, Public Health France has published the figures for its first epidemiological point on drownings of summer. And they are chilling. In June, there were more than 230 accidental drownings, including more than 80 fatalities, which occurred in France. “The number of drownings and deaths remains high during the first four weeks of June 2023,” it says.
From June 1 to 28, the number of accidental drownings (233) however fell across the country compared to the same period of 2022 (253) and especially 2021 (310). In June 2021, the lifting of anti-Covid restriction measures, combined with favorable swimming weather, could “explain part of the large number of drownings”, according to the public health agency.
More fatal drownings than in 2022 and 2021
In the first four weeks of June this year, 84 drownings were followed by deaths, an almost stable number compared to the same periods of 2022 and 2021. But, in proportion, the drownings of this beginning of summer were more frequently fatal ( 36%, versus 34% and 26%). It is among adults that the fatal drownings have been the most numerous until now, a minority of children under 6 years of age being victims. “We must remain cautious about the interpretation: this may be linked to risky practices that have persisted among adults. The proportion may change over the next few weeks” and the holidays, commented Aymeric Ung, of SpF, during a press conference.
READ ALSOBacteria, drowning… Should you swim in a swimming pool or in white water? Over the past three years, the daily number of drownings has been higher on weekends and during hot weather (second weekend of June 2021, heat wave from June 15 to 19, 2022 or last weekend of June 2023) . In France, accidental drownings are responsible for approximately 1,000 deaths each year (including nearly 400 during the summer).
The publication of the first summer update is done “on the last school day so that a maximum of information and prevention advice is disseminated when leaving on vacation”, explained Aymeric Ung. “Almost all accidental drownings can be avoided with simple preventive measures,” he insisted.
Active and permanent supervision of young children, learning to swim as soon as possible, choice of secure areas, vigilance in the face of the weather are among the recommendations. A campaign is deployed by the public authorities, until July 14, to inform about the risks of drowning. Since 2003, Public Health France surveys have identified all drownings treated by the emergency services.
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