Where do people drown?
"Approximately 90% of drownings take place in freshwater (rivers, lakes and swimming pools) and 10% in seawater. Drownings in other fluids are rare, and often relate to industrial accidents. In New Zealand's early colonial history, so many settlers died while trying to cross rivers that drowning was known as "The New Zealand death".
Those under the influence of drugs have died in puddles.
What is the gender?
Males: Nearly 80% of people who die from drowning are male.
Use of alcohol increases the risk of drowning. Among adolescents and adults, alcohol use is involved in almost a quarter of emergency department visits for drowning.
Something that almost no one in the maritime industry understands. That includes mariners [and] even many (most) rescue professionals: It is impossible to die from hypothermia in cold water unless you are wearing flotation, because without flotation – you won’t live long enough to become hypothermic."
Drowning - Wikipedia
A deadly predator: Cold water shock
"Short of being hit by a bus or struck by lightning, cold shock is one of the biggest jolts that your body can experience. If you gasp underwater, you will immediately drown. Cold shock is a lot more complicated and dangerous than just gasping for air. The instant that cold water makes contact with your skin, you will experience a number of
potentially lethal shock responses. These fall into three categories.."
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The Importance of understanding dangers of "cold water shock"
Importance of understanding dangers of cold water shock
"The most common misunderstanding about swimming in Lake Tahoe is that people can suffer from hypothermia, which leads to death. The real truth is that "cold water shock" will kill much quicker than hypothermia ever will. The sudden lowering of skin temperature on immersion in cold water represents one of the most profound stimuli that the body can encounter.
Cold Shock. An initial deep and sudden Gasp followed by hyperventilation that can be as much as 600-1000% greater than normal breathing. You must keep your airway clear or run the risk of drowning. Cold Shock will pass in about 1 minute. During that time concentrate on avoiding panic and getting control of your breathing. Wearing a lifejacket during this phase is critically important to keep you afloat and breathing."
https://www.quora.com/Why-are-drownings-more-common-in-lakes-than-the-sea
"....Lake users should be aware of the dangers of
cold water shock. Lake water heats in layers, which unlike the sea are not mixed by wave action, for example in Lake Tahoe summer temperatures follow this pattern.
The top 12 inches of the lake are normally okay to swim in due to this layer warming with the sun. The water will be 68-70 by August. It is the layers that rest below this foot where people run into problems when in the lake. The next foot will be a constant 56 degrees, down to 45 degrees a few hundred feet down."
"My observations from local news stories in my part of the world, are that in Oregon, people are more likely to die by swept out to the Pacific Ocean by “sneaker waves” along the coast, even though there are warning signs posted at the state parks and beaches, than any other way of entering the water.
More, though drown in lakes, reservoirs, and rivers because they aren’t wearing life vests, aren’t aware of the strength of currents, are surprised by the water temperatures, aren’t aware of underwater drop-offs, are drunk when they fall into the water from boats, over-estimate their swimming endurance/abilities, or are unsupervised children.
Basically, it seems that people don’t expect placid or smaller bodies of water like ponds and lakes to be as dangerous as the ocean and are thereby unprepared."
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"A large percentage of drowning victims (51% of males between the ages of 20 and 89 years in an Australian study) have alcohol in their blood stream (Plueckhahn 1984). However, it is not clear whether alcohol increases the chances of drowning b y: (i) altering the physiological responses to
immersion; (ii) increasing the likelihood of an accident occurring; (iii) causing confusion and lack of co-ordination on immersion; or (iv) a combi
nation of these factors.
On the basis of the evidence obtained during the present experiments and that from relevant earlier studies (Keatinge & Evans, 1960; Martin et
al, 1977) in which the respiratory response was unaltered (Martin et al, 1977)and heart rate response only slightly attenuated (Keatinge & Evans,
1960) by alcohol, it is concluded that moderate con
centrations of alcohol (80-130mL.100mL-1) may
slightly reduce the initial responses to immersion
in cold water, but the practical significance of th
is reduction is questionable. It is further concluded
that the high incidence of drowning victims with
alcohol in their blood is more likely to be due to
the effect of alcohol on co-ordination and
awareness than the initial physiological responses
to immersion."
https://www.researchgate.net/profil...sponses-to-cold-water-immersion-in-humans.pdf