ABSTRACT. Objective. To describe deaths due to drowning that involve the use of an infant bathtub seat or ring.Design. Case series, cases reported to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission data systems.Setting. United States, 1983-1995. Main Outcome Measures. Death in which an infant bathtub seat or ring was in use at the time of death and the primary cause of death was drowning.Results. Thirty-two drowning deaths involving bath seats/rings were identified and investigated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission over a 13-year period. The majority of deaths (84%) occurred from 1991-1995, with more than 50% occurring in the 2 most recent years. The victims' ages at the time of the incident ranged from 5 to 15 months with a mean and median age of 8 months. In more than 90% of incidents there was a reported lapse in adult supervision, with a mean reported lapse of 6 minutes and a median lapse of 4 minutes. Focus groups with parents found that while making bathing somewhat easier, bath seats/rings are useful for a relatively short time period, as the child rapidly outgrows the product. They also suggested that care givers are more likely to leave a child unattended in the tub if one of these products is in use.Conclusion. Bath seats/rings are associated with an increasing number of reported infant drowning deaths. The use of such products may increase the risk of drowning among infants by increasing the likelihood that an infant will be left alone in the tub. However, in the absence of exposure data in a suitable comparison group it is difficult to assess the overall risk inherent in their use. Educational efforts reinforcing the need for continuous adult supervision of infants and children around all bodies of water should now also include a reminder that bath seats/rings are not safety items and are not a substitute for adult supervision. Infants and toddlers should never be left in the bathtub unsupervised, even for brief moments. Pediatrics 1997;100(4). URL: http://www. pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/100/4/e1; drowning, submersion, infant, bathtub.ABBREVIATIONS. US, United States; CPSC, Consumer Product Safety Commission; CPR, cardiopulmonary resuscitation. D rowning is the third leading cause of unintentional-injury death among children in the United States. 1 Young children under the age of 5 are at particularly increased risk of drowning, with drowning rates peaking among children ages 1 to 2 years. [2][3][4][5] Since the 1970s drowning rates have decreased markedly in most age groups with the exception of toddlers, where rates have remained fairly stable, and infants, where rates may have actually increased. 5 For the 12-year period from 1983-1994, 1219 infants drowned (2.60/100 000 infants), of which 1036 (85%) were coded as unintentional intent. 6 In contrast to toddlers, who are likely to drown in residential swimming pools, 3,7-9 more than 50% of unintentional infant drowning deaths occur in the bathtub. 6 As part of our ongoing investigation of infant and toddler drownings, we became aware of a nu...
Window-covering cords represent a substantial strangulation hazard compared with other potentially harmful household products that were modified based on voluntary standards to mitigate the risk of injury. Product design modifications and parental education will be necessary to avert this type of fatal home injury.
The purpose of the study is to document the incidence of bucket-related drowning in the United States and to identify factors associated with this type of submersion injury. Analysis of Consumer Product Safety Commission data revealed 160 bucket-related drownings for the years 1984 through 1989, representing a mortality rate of 0.367 per 100 000 persons (younger than 2 years old) per year in the United States. Eighty-eight percent of bucket drownings occurred in toddlers aged 7 to 15 months old. Black children were six times more likely to drown in a bucket than white children of similar age (P < .0001). Male toddlers were at significantly greater risk than females (P < .01). A seasonal trend present in the data indicated that infants are more likely to drown in warmer than in colder months (P < .01). States with the highest rates of bucket drowning were Vermont (2.1/100 000), Arizona (1.5/100 000), and Illinois (1.0/100 000). Through passive and active educational strategies, perhaps this fatal home injury can be prevented.
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