Nearly 1,500 accidental drownings, including nearly 400 fatalities, occurred in France in the summer of 2021. This is fewer than during the previous survey in 2018, probably due to less favorable weather for swimming, announced this Tuesday Public health Franceemphasizing prevention.
From June 1 to September 30, 2021, the number of accidental drownings (1,480) fell by 10% nationwide compared to the same period in summer 2018 (1,649). More than a quarter of these drownings (394) were followed by death. A proportion of deaths (27%) comparable to that of 2018 (25%).
Nearly 1000 deaths per year
In France, accidental drownings are responsible for around 1,000 deaths each year (including around 400 in the summer), which makes it the leading cause of death by accident in everyday life among people under 25, recalls SPF.
In the summer of 2021, it was among the youngest and oldest that drownings were the most numerous: 22% occurred among those under six years old and 26% among those aged 65 and over. They were more fatal after 65 years: in this age group, 41% of drownings are followed by death against 6% in children under six years old.
Covid-19 not innocent
The proportion of deaths was higher among drownings in bodies of water (49%) and in waterways (41%), ahead of drownings at sea (25%), in swimming pools (15%) and in other places (14%) such as bathtubs or basins, according to the survey conducted with the support of the Ministries of Health, Interior, Sports, Ecological Transition.
Public Health France stresses that “many of these drownings occurred in a context of the lifting of anti-Covid restriction measures” and “could be, in part, linked to a poor assessment by swimmers of their physical abilities or to a deterioration in the state of health at the end of a long period of confinement and less activity”.
Prevention during the summer
The agency emphasizes the need for prevention in the face of the risk of drowning at all ages, insisting on the importance of taking into account physical form and state of health.
A prevention campaign will be deployed by the public authorities throughout the summer to inform about the risks of accidental drowning, according to the press release.
Since 2003, Public Health France surveys have recorded drownings, accidental and intentional (suicide or homicide), taken care of by the emergency services (firefighters, Samu-Smur, etc.).