As a result of ongoing concerns regarding the underreporting of drownings in metropolitan areas, safety groups across the country are taking action.
“Many deaths caused by complications from drowning aren’t reported as drowning deaths,” said Jeremy Smith, president of the Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter of the Independent Pool & Spa Service Association.
Instead, such deaths are sometimes attributed primarily to respiratory failure or other complications because they may occur in a hospital days after the drowning incident. Some water safety advocates say as much as 10 percent of a state’s drowning-related deaths may go unreported in per-capita drowning statistics.
