Drowning Prevention Roundtable Addresses Alarming Rise in Drownings in Suffolk County

New York State ranks fourth in the nation for drowning deaths. In Suffolk County, where Stony Brook is located, drowning fatalities increased by 60 percent from 2023 to 2024. 

To address some of the issues contributing to these disturbing statistics, Stony Brook Children’s Hospital hosted a roundtable that brought together water safety experts, advocates, affected families, medical professionals, public health and safety officials, parks and recreation representatives, and school officials, all with the shared goal of preventing drownings in Suffolk County and enhancing water safety for residents and visitors alike. The group also seeks to launch the first-ever Suffolk County Drowning Prevention Action Plan.  

The event was organized by Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, the ZAC Foundation, a national water safety nonprofit, and water safety nonprofit Stop Drowning Now, with support from several Suffolk County-based organizations.

As part of its commitment to drowning prevention efforts, Stony Brook Children’s Hospital has been designated as the Medical Center of Excellence by the Suffolk County Drowning Prevention Alliance to launch a new community-wide prevention initiative. 

“Drowning remains an epidemic in America,” said Karen Cohn, co-founder of the ZAC Foundation. “It is the number one killer of children ages one to four, and the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for kids between ages of five and 14. Additionally, due to historic inequities in access to swimming instruction, Black children are much more likely to drown than White children.”

The purpose of the roundtable was to review and provide feedback on the draft Suffolk County Drowning Prevention Action Plan. Following the roundtable, participants offered key water safety tips and reminders to the public ahead of the July 4 holiday, when drownings tend to spike. 

The Suffolk County Drowning Prevention Action Plan will consist of five core objectives:  

• improving data and understanding of drowning risks 

• expanding public education and awareness 

• promoting pool safety among residents 

• strengthening lifeguard capabilities 

• enhancing advocacy and community outreach 

The goal is to finalize and launch the plan to the public later this month, to coincide with World Drowning Prevention Day on July 25.

“In New York State, 4,000 people a year drown,” said Bobby Hazen, executive director of Stop Drowning Now, and founding member of the New York Water Safety Coalition. “That’s 11 people a day. Suffolk County, unfortunately, went up about 60 percent last year.”

Hazen noted an increase in drownings since the COVID-19 pandemic, singling out a stark increase in swimming pool drownings.

“In 2018, 40 percent of drownings in Suffolk County were in open water, but in 2024, 66 percent of the fatal drownings there were in swimming pools,” he said. “We can see what’s going on. Swimming pools have become more accessible, especially since COVID, because more pools were installed than ever before.” 

Hazen also said the post-pandemic world has created an environment that unfortunately makes drownings more possible.

“Since COVID there are more distractions, more Zoom calls, more time on cell phones,” he said. “These distractions increase the danger of swimming pools, especially for children. We can see the work we need to do here.”

Securing and understanding as much data as possible is also a key part of the initiative.

“As doctors, we like to know why things happen,” said Jacqueline Bober, DO, pediatric emergency medicine physician at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. “We look at the data and see where these drownings occurred, why they occurred, the ages of the victims, what occurred.” 

Bober said Stony Brook takes transfers from other hospitals, and therefore has access to a large amount of valuable data.  “We can see some patterns,” she said. “We’re also implementing a quality improvement (QI) project focused on educating patients about drowning prevention. As part of this effort, we plan to show a drowning prevention video to families while they wait during well visits. They’ll answer a few questions to assess their knowledge beforehand, watch the video, and then see what to expect. I think a tool like this can really help. Our goal is to educate parents so we can be more successful in preventing drownings.”

Bober hopes to provide this education and reach 2,000 patients at Stony Brook. 

The conversation also addressed the importance of cultivating the next generation of lifeguards as a critical vocation, including funding, and professionalizing the job. Long Island’s Anastasia Pagonis, a swimmer who won a gold-medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo was in attendance, and offered some words on the importance of lifeguard training. 

“It’s so hard to become a beach lifeguard,” she said. “You have to go through intense training, and it’s something that you have to do once a year. But a lot of our drownings happen in pools, and I don’t think that the certification for pools is as intense. There is a lot more that needs to be done regarding pool training since so many more drownings are happening in pools now.”

The roundtable concluded by emphasizing the importance of water safety, particularly during the summer. Among the tips the experts offered were designating a monitor or “water watcher” at events, securing the pool area with a four-sided four-foot fence including self-latching gates and locks, swimming lessons, extra vigilance for children with autism or developmental delays, awareness of beach currents, and making sure children under 12 wear life jackets while boating.

“Stay extra alert in new settings and social gatherings, and always scan the area for water hazards upon arrival. Most importantly knowing that not one thing can prevent drowning, but rather multiple layers of protection all working together,” said Jamie Ryan, an injury prevention professional at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital.

Hazen added that the best thing an adult can do is to lead by example.

“Adults should also wear life jackets and take swimming lessons,” he said. “Swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by up to 88 percent, that’s how important they are. Exercise good judgement. Always swim with a buddy. Never drink alcohol if you’re swimming. And be aware of your physical limitations.”

“We know that it takes a whole community approach to combat drowning and save lives,” said Cohn. “And that’s exactly why we have everyone gathered here together today to inform and be reflective of the realities to better specify to individual communities.”

— Robert Emproto