> Drowning kills 100% of people who drown, so it's certainly more dangerous than guns.
I heard from a person that had to go through helicopter rescue training that they're, in their course of training, required to drown at one point; and then, after drowning, are brought back up and revived.
Drowning may kill a large percentage of the people that drown, but it's not a guaranteed death-sentence.
> Drowning is the single most dangerous form of activity for children. We're more than happy to ban guns, while they're not even close to as dangerous as swimming pools. Even traffic accidents come second as the cause for death for children, after swimming pools.
That may be true for children age 1-4, because they can move around but not swim. However, cars, falls, and poison are far more dangerous overall. Learning how to swim in a safe manner reduces the risk of drowning.
"No. I'm going to say you can't always avoid getting into water."
True but accidentally ending up in water is rare. Deliberately putting yourself in water because you can swim is common. I'd still rather swim personally, but if I stayed out of the sea I would be safer.
I know its tongue in cheek, but in practical terms, there is negative consequences for pushing the zero drownings. To achieve zero drownings, we have to have zero risk. the only way for zero risk is to eliminate it (i.e. ban swimming). However, banning swimming has many unintended consequences (swimming is great exercise, swimming during boat use is important during collisions). At some point, we will encounter water in ways that require swim skills.
Drownings are tragic, however, we can't 100% prevent things without severe negative consequences.
Water is dangerous. That why you have life guards, rules at swimming pools et al, guidelines about reducing your speed when driving in wet conditions etc.
When an adult or adolescent drowns, it looks exactly the same, they're much more dangerous to would-be helpers, and half the time they're drunk and surrounded by drunk people.
Many drownings could have been prevented but it's still a relatively niche cause of death. Unintentional drowning is ten times less frequent than either of falling or motor vehicle crashes, which are about the same frequency. The main way that drownings could be prevented among adults is by enforcing alcohol rules, or having some in the first place, but that goes against the entire theme of American water recreation. Which is sort of the point of the article: dying unnecessarily is part of the culture of America.
> Phelps himself comes over and he can't swim alone?
Nope. No buddy, no swimming. I don't even swim alone, even though I know chances are it would be fine 99% of the time.
> The point being is that there is no algorithm to sort this out.
Sure there is.
if swimmer_cout < 2:
throw NoSwimException
The risks of something going wrong in an instant are incredibly high with water. A small problem can lead to massive consequences when it comes to easily interrupting your breathing. Someone bumps their head hard in the yard, they'll be out for a few minutes in the yard. Someone bumps their head hard in the pool, they're dead. Someone faints in the living room, they'll be back up in a few minutes. Someone faints in the pool, they're dead.
Spurious conclusion: Boating and swimming are irresponsible.
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