Washington State is a leader in drowning prevention. We've been working for many years to understand what factors lead to child and teen drownings, to work with community coalitions and to develop programs to reduce drowning risk and prevent drowning.
Seattle Children’s began doing research in the 1970’s and outreach on drowning prevention in the early 1990’s with the development of the Stay on Top of It campaign. Stay on Top if It factsheets are available. Current efforts focus on increasing life jacket use among children, teens and adults, community education and outreach, development of culturally and ethnically specific drowning prevention programs, open water education and advocacy, media and publicity.
Washington State Drowning Prevention Network
The Washington State Drowning Prevention Network was developed in 1994 to provide a forum for organizations to work together on preventing drowning. Network activities include: April Pools Day and Summer Splashtacular, life jacket loan programs, training for injury prevention, water safety and boating safety professionals, access to educational information through this web site, advocacy and media outreach. Meetings are held twice a year in Seattle and Ellensburg, Washington. The Network is led by Washington State Department of Health Injury Prevention Program, SAFE KIDS Washington, Public Health Seattle & King County, Washington State Parks Boating Program and Seattle Children’s.
Our key messages are: Know the Water, Know your Limits, Wear a Life Jacket.
Would you like more information about the Stay on Top of It Campaign and the Washington State Drowning Prevention Network? Interested in starting a drowning prevention campaign in your own community? Send us an e-mail message so we can start helping you.