Men, kids most at risk of drowning, stats show

Netcare Group emergency, trauma, transplant and corporate social investment general manager Mande Toubkin said the hospital group had collected this data since 2011.

“Our statistics reveal that the greatest percentage of all drowning incidents throughout the year occur during summer,” she said.

“This is largely attributable to people spending more time outdoors and around pools during the warmer months, as well as the high volumes of tourists, both foreign and local, who flock to the beaches during school holidays, particularly over the festive season.”

According to their data, children accounted for 63% of all near-drowning cases admitted to their hospitals countrywide.

The statistics furthermore revealed that men were most at risk of drowning, with 61% of patients attended to being male.

Netcare hospitals admitted a total of 613 patients involved in neardrowning incidents from 2011. Of these, 94% survived without permanent consequences.

Over the five-year period, more than half of all incidents took place in Gauteng, and a third in KwaZulu-Natal. The Western Cape was a distant third, reflecting 6% of all incidents.

The figures show that swimming pools are the most dangerous. Eight percent of all deaths occurred while the victim was in the pool, and 71% of these because the victim fell in.

Six percent of all deaths happened in the bath.