• R Vähätalo, P Lunetta, K T Olkkola, and P K Suominen.
• Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Children's Hospital, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
• Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2014 May 1;58(5):604-10.

BackgroundWe report the incidence and mortality of paediatric drowning incidents according to 'Utstein Style for Drowning' guidelines.MethodsRetrospective study including all the drowned children under 16 years of age who were hospitalised or died with or without attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) between 1997 and 2007 in the province of Uusimaa, Finland. Survival rates provided at hospital discharge and after 1-year follow-up period are reported.ResultsA total of 58 drowned children were either admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit or died during the study period. The median (interquartile range) age was 5.9 (3.1, 7.8) years. The annual incidence of drowning was 1.9/100,000 and was highest, 2.8/100,000, in children aged between 1 and 4 years. The annual mortality rate was 0.9/100,000. Of all the 58 patients, 14 (24%) died at the scene, 22 (38.1%) before the hospital discharge, and 26 (45%) within the 1 year. The number of non-fatal drownings was 1.2-fold that of fatal drownings. The survival rate of the 26 patients for whom CPR was initiated by emergency medical service (EMS) personnel was 42% at hospital discharge, with the 1-year survival rate being 27%.ConclusionsThe incidence of drowning in children and the survival rate of those children in whom CPR was initiated by EMS personnel was in line with the previously reported. However, the overall mortality rate in drowned children was higher than estimated in previous studies.© 2014 The Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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