Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina: Statistics & Trends 2019-2023
Explore the data on unintentional drownings in North Carolina from 2019 to 2023, revealing insights into deaths, hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and more. Discover the updated surveillance methods to capture drowning-related incidents and the increasing trend of unintentional drowning-related deaths over the last decade in NC.
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NC DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023 Division of Public Health Data updated March 12, 2025
Unintentional Drowning Technical Notes Surveillance methods have been updated to identify any mention of an injury in our morbidity data sources. Individual records with multiple injuries listed will be included in the total for each of those injuries but only counted once for overall total injury count. Previously, only the first listed injury was counted, which has resulted in an increase in the number of specific injuries identified. For questions or for more information see technical notes document available at https://www.injuryfreenc.ncdhhs.gov/DataSurveillance/ Case definitions used: Deaths ICD10 codes W65 W74, V90, V92 listed as cause of death NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Technical Notes, Continued Hospitalizations Among records with an ICD-10-CM injury code,* any mention of the following ICD-10-CM codes (includes records resulting in death) Emergency Department Visits Any mention of the following ICD-10-CM codes: (includes records resulting in hospitalization or death) Drowning and nonfatal submersion T75.1 Drowning and submersion due to accident to watercraft V90 Drowning and submersion due to accident on board watercraft, without accident to watercraft V92 Fall, jump, or diving into water causing drowning and submersion W16 with 6th character = 1 Striking against wall of swimming pool causing drowning and submersion W22.041 Accidental non-transport drowning and submersion W65-W74 Drowning and submersion, undetermined intent Y21 *See technical notes document for a full list of ICD-10-CM injury diagnosis codes NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Unintentional drowning-related deaths are the tip of the iceberg 591 Deaths Despite NC s excellent reporting systems, the totalburden of drowning injury in the state is unknown. 127 127 115 Hospitalizations 554 ED Visits Deaths Hospitalizations ED Visits ? EMS ? Outpatient Visits ? Medically Unattended Injuries ? Medically Unattended Injuries INJURY ICEBERG INJURY ICEBERG INJURY ICEBURG INJURY ICEBURG Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC State Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics Deaths (2019-2023) and Hospitalization Discharge Data (2019-2023); NC DETECT (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Unintentional Drowning Deaths
Unintentional drowning-related deaths have increased over the last 10 years Number of Deaths 140 120 106 91 100 80 16% increase 60 40 20 0 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC State Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics Deaths (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Unintentional drowning-related deaths impact those of all ages Number of Deaths, 2019-2023 100 89 81 77 80 64 58 57 60 41 35 32 40 23 21 20 8 4 0 <1 01-04 05-09 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-34 Age Group 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75-84 >84 Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC State Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics Deaths (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Unintentional drowning death rates are highest among those ages 1 to 4 years old Rate per 100,000, 2019-2023 2.4 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.0 0.9 1.0 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.5 * 0.0 <1 01-04 05-09 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-34 Age Group 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75-84 >84 *The number of deaths was too small to support a rate calculation for infants younger than one. Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC State Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics Deaths (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Most unintentional drowning-related deaths occurred among men and non-Hispanic Whites Number of Deaths, 2019-2023 474 500 450 400 338 350 300 250 166 200 117 150 64 100 11 50 8 3 0 Female Male AI/AN NH Asian NH Black NH Hispanic White NH Other NH Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC State Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics Deaths (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Rates of unintentional drowning-related deaths were highest among men and non- Hispanic American Indians / Alaska Natives Rate per 100,000, 2019-2023 2.5 2.0 1.8 2.0 1.5 1.5 1.1 1.0 1.0 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.0 Female Male AI/AN NH Asian NH Black NH Hispanic White NH Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC State Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics Deaths (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Unintentional drownings were highest in the summer months, with nearly 1 in 5 occurring in July Percent of Unintentional Drowning Deaths by Month, 2019-2023 20% 17% 18% 16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 3% 4% 2% 0% Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC State Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics Deaths (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023 11
Over half of unintentional drownings occur in natural water Percent of Drowning Deaths by Water Source, 2019-2023 16% Bath-tub 16% Swimming-pool 54% Natural Water 14% Other / Unspecified Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC State Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics Deaths (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023 12
Unintentional drowning deaths vary by water source and age group Count of Unintentional Drowning Deaths by Water Source and Age Group, 2019-2023 Bath-tub Swimming-pool Natural Water Other / Unspecified 10 37 9 5 <5 7 22 29 6 5-17 28 13 153 32 18-44 24 16 77 18 45-64 27 8 50 19 65+ Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC State Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics Deaths (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023 13
Unintentional Near-Drowning Hospitalizations
Unintentional drowning-related hospitalizations decreased over the last five years Number of Hospitalizations 35 30 30 25 20 19 15 37% decrease 10 5 0 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC State Center for Health Statistics, Hospital Discharge Data (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Unintentional drowning-related hospitalizations are most common among those ages 1 to 4 Number of Hospitalizations, 2019-2023 37 40 35 30 25 20 13 15 10 8 8 7 7 10 6 5 5 5 4 0 5 0 <1 01-04 05-09 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-34 Age Group 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75-84 >84 Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC State Center for Health Statistics, Hospital Discharge Data (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Children ages 1 to 4 have the highest rates of unintentional drowning-related hospitalizations Rate per 100,000, 2019-2023 2.0 1.5 1.5 1.0 0.8 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.0 * 0.0 <1 01-04 05-09 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-34 Age Group 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75-84 >84 *The number of hospitalizations was too small to support a rate calculation for adults ages 55-64. Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC State Center for Health Statistics, Hospital Discharge Data (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Most unintentional drowning-related hospitalizations occurred among men and non-Hispanic Whites Number of Hospitalizations, 2019-2023 90 78 80 70 62 60 50 37 40 25 30 15 20 5 3 10 1 0 Female Male AI/AN NH Asian NH Black NH Hispanic White NH Other NH NH non-Hispanic Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC State Center for Health Statistics, Hospital Discharge Data (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Unintentional drowning-related hospitalization rates were highest among men and non- Hispanic Asians Rate per 100,000, 2019-2023 0.35 0.30 0.28 0.30 0.26 0.22 0.25 0.19 0.20 0.14 0.15 0.10 0.05 * 0.00 Female Male AI/AN NH Asian NH Black NH Hispanic White NH NH non-Hispanic; *The number of hospitalizations was too small to support a rate calculation for NH American Indian. Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC State Center for Health Statistics, Hospital Discharge Data (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Unintentional Near-Drowning Emergency Department Visits
Unintentional drowning-related ED visits decreased by 13% over the last five years Number of ED Visits 128 140 120 112 100 80 13% decrease 60 40 20 0 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC DETECT (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
37.7% of unintentional drowning-related ED visits occurred among children younger than 10 Number of ED Visits, 2019-2023 160 137 140 120 100 80 56 48 60 45 42 41 37 34 32 30 40 23 17 9 20 0 <1 01-04 05-09 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75-84 Age Group >84 Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC DETECT (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Children ages 1 to 4 have the highest rates of unintentional drowning-related ED Visits Rate per 100,000, 2019-2023 5.7 6 5 3.9 4 3 1.6 1.51.2 2 1.0 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 1 0 <1 01-04 05-09 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-34 Age Group 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75-84 >84 Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC DETECT (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Most unintentional drowning-related ED visits occurred among men and non-Hispanic Whites Number of ED Visits, 2019-2023 450 383 400 334 350 300 216 250 200 150 78 100 37 15 50 4 2 0 Female Male AI/AN NH Asian NH Black NH Hispanic White NH Other NH NH non-Hispanic Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC DETECT (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Rates of unintentional drowning-related ED visits were highest among men and non-Hispanic Whites Rate per 100,000, 2019-2023 1.3 1.4 1.2 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.2 * * 0.0 Female Male AI/AN NH Asian NH Black NH Hispanic White NH NH non-Hispanic; *The number of hospitalizations was too small to support a rate calculation for NH American Indians and NH Asians. Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC DETECT (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Unintentional near-drownings occur in a variety of water sources 26.0% Unspecified 11.4% Drowning in swimming-pool 10.3% Submersion due to fall off unspecified watercraft 8.5% Drowning in natural water 6.9% Fall into swimming pool 4.9% Submersion due to fall off powered watercraft 4.5% Drowning in bathtub 3.2% Fall into natural body of water 24.4% Other Limited to NC Residents, 2019-2023 Source: NC DETECT (2019-2023) Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Summary of unintentional drowning-related injuries in North Carolina, 2019-2023 From 2019-2023, unintentional drowning-related injuries resulted in: Nearly 600 deaths Almost 120 hospitalizations Nearly 600 emergency department visits Unintentional drowning-related death rates are highest among men and non-Hispanic American Indians / Alaska Natives Rates of unintentional drowning-related injuries are highest in children ages 1 to 4 years old NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023
Unintentional drownings are preventable Top Safety Tips Watch children when they are in or around water Teach yourself and children to swim Learn CPR and basic rescue skills Learn how to perform CPR on children and adults Ensure swimming pools have 4-sided fencing at least 4 feet high NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023 28
Resources Safe Kids North Carolina https://www.ncosfm.gov/community-risk-reduction/safe-kids Division of Public Health, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch https://www.dph.ncdhhs.gov/programs/chronic-disease-and-injury/injury-and- violence-prevention-branch Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Drowning Prevention https://www.cdc.gov/drowning/about/ National Drowning Prevention Alliance https://ndpa.org/ US Consumer Product Safety Commission Pool Safety https://www.poolsafely.gov/ NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023 29
IVPB Data Support now available! Book time with an IVPB epidemiologist to discuss available data products, to talk through custom data requests, or for general data questions. IVPB Data Request Policy IVPB Data Support Bookings NCDHHS, Division of Public Health | Unintentional Drownings in North Carolina, 2019-2023 30
Questions? InjuryData@dhhs.nc.gov Injury and Violence Prevention Branch Division of Public Health www.dph.ncdhhs.gov/programs/chronic- disease-and-injury/injury-and-violence- prevention-branch
