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Ministry of Health
VITAL STATISTICS INFORMATION BOX
ACCIDENTAL DROWNING FATALITIES
IN BRITISH COLUMBIA, 1990-1998

Drowning fatality statistics shown in this Annual Report (based on ICD9 code E910) exclude deaths from water transport accidents, such as drowning due to a boat sinking (E830 Accident to watercraft causing drowning) or a fall overboard (E832 Drowning in other watercraft accident). In an attempt to give a more complete picture, statistics on drownings including water transport accidents were produced for deaths in British Columbia from 1990 through 1998, showing cause of death, gender, and age group.

For the nine-year time period, there were 791 drowning deaths in the province (residents plus non-residents), and almost a third of them (246 deaths) were the result of water transport accidents. The typical drowning victim was a male aged 25 to 44 who died after an accidental fall into water (not from a boat). Almost half the male victims (327 out of 665 deaths) died after an accidental fall into water (182 deaths) or from a watercraft accident causing drowning (146 deaths). Although an accidental fall into water was also the leading cause of death for female victims (35 out of 126 deaths), almost as many women drowned in swimming pools (33 deaths).

Look for more information on this topic in a future issue of the Quarterly Digest.

ACCIDENTAL DROWNING FATALITIES BY CAUSE
GENDER AND AGE GROUP
BRITISH COLUMBIA, 1990 - 1998

ICD9 Code Cause of Death Gender <1 1-14 15-24 25-44 45-64 65-84 85+ Total
E830 Accident to watercraft M - 2 38 63 29 14 - 146
  causing drowning F - 3 4 3 5 1 - 16
  (eg. boat sank) T - 5 42 66 34 15 - 162
E832 Drowning in other M - 1 7 41 24 8 - 81
  watercraft accident F - - 1 1 0 1 - 3
  (eg. fell overboard) T - 1 8 42 24 9 - 84
E910.0 Drowning while M - - - 1 - - - 1
  waterskiing F - - - - - - - -
    T - - - 1 - - - 1
E910.1 Drowning while M - - 2 9 3 - - 14
  recreational F - - 1 1 - - - 2
  diving T - - 3 10 3 - - 16
E910.2 Drowning in other M - 7 43 40 10 5 1 106
  sport or recreation F - 2 1 1 1 1 - 6
    T - 9 44 41 11 6 1 112
E910.3 Drowning during M - - 3 11 2 1 - 17
  commercial or F - - 4 - - - - 4
  rescue diving T - - 7 11 2 1 - 21
E910.4 Drowning in M - 1 - 3 2 4 2 12
  bathtub F 4 1 2 3 4 7 6 27
    T 4 2 2 6 6 11 8 39
E910.8 Drowning in M 1 21 20 38 13 10 4 107
  swimming pool F - 8 1 4 10 8 2 33
    T 1 29 21 42 23 18 6 140
E910.9 Accidental fall M 1 15 34 75 36 19 1 181
  into water F - 7 6 7 10 5 - 35
    T 1 22 40 82 46 24 1 216
E830, All Downing M 2 47 147 281 119 61 8 665
E832, Fatalities F 4 21 20 20 30 23 8 126
E910   T 6 68 167 301 149 84 16 791
Note: Includes non-residents