Last month a 5-year-old Bradenton girl died of an apparent accidental drowning.
Sadly, she wasn’t unusual. Florida — a state with over a million and a half swimming pools and 825 miles of beach — is the national leader in drowning deaths for children.
Florida lawmakers hope to stem that tide with bills to provide free swimming lessons for low-income families with children ages 4 and younger.
From 2018 to 2020, Florida had the highest rate of unintentional drowning deaths for children aged 1 to 4 years, the highest unintentional drowning deaths among children 0 to 9, and in 2020 saw the third-highest rate of unintentional drowning deaths for children 0-17 in the nation, according to the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). At least 97 children died by drowning in 2023, according to the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Many more are left alive but with serious outcomes including brain damage and long-term disabilities, the CDC said . Nearly 40% of drowning victims who make it to an emergency room require hospitalization or transfer for further care.