Water Safety

Drowning happens when someone's nose and mouth go under water and they cannot breathe. Drowning is a leading cause of unintentional injury, with children between the ages 1 to 4 at the highest risk.¹ In drowning incidents, every second counts; it is silent and can happen in an instant.

Community insights

Water safety is important at any age. In our eight-county primary service area—Collin, Denton, Grayson, Hood, Johnson, Parker, Tarrant and Wise counties, 1 in 6 children between the ages of 1 to 4 were not always within reach of an adult during bath time.¹ For children between the ages 5 to 11, nearly 2 in 7 children are not always supervised around water or pools. Additionally, only 1 in 2 children between the ages 12 to 17 always wears a life jacket when around lakes or open water.¹

Drowning prevention program

Lifeguard Your Child

Cook Children's Lifeguard Your Child is designed to help reduce the number drownings we see every year among children through education and resources.

Lifeguard Your Child

References

¹Community Health Needs Assessment Report. (2024). Cook Children’s Health Care System. Fort Worth, Texas; or Cook Children’s CHNA 2024 at www.cookchildrens.org/chna (accessed September 2025).