Water safety initiatives aim to reduce child drownings in Hawaiʻi

Hawaiʻi Water Safety Day is on Thursday, and the Hawaiʻi Department of Health, in partnership with the Hawaiʻi Water Safety Coalition and the YMCA, is encouraging the community to raise awareness about water safety and drowning.

International Water Safety Day is celebrated on May 15 each year and is a worldwide effort to spread global awareness of drowning and to educate youth on becoming safer in and around the water.

Last year, Gov. Josh Green established Hawaiʻi Water Safety Day after signing Senate Bill 2841 into law to increase water safety awareness and help prevent and reduce fatal and non-fatal drowning incidents.

Community organizations such as the International Water Safety Foundation and American Red Cross believe that water safety is a life skill that can be taught and that water safety education and awareness can help reduce the number of child drowning fatalities.

The state Department of Health data indicates:

• Hawaiʻi’s resident drowning rate is the highest in the nation;
• Drowning is the leading cause of injury-related deaths for tourists;
• Drowning is the most common cause of death for children in Hawaiʻi ages 1-15;
• Less than 2% of Hawaiʻi’s second graders have the basic skills to avoid or recover from drowningʻ
• 88% of fatal drowning victims ages 1-15 in Hawaiʻi were residents and 64% drowned in swimming pools. These proportions were significantly lower, 52% and 8% respectively, for victims of older ages.

Eighty-eight percent of fatal drowning victims ages 1-15 in Hawaiʻi were residents, and 64% drowned in swimming pools. These proportions were significantly lower, 52% and 8% respectively, for older victims.

In response to this data, the Department of Health Emergency Medical Services & Injury Prevention System Branch is developing a statewide child drowning prevention initiative with the goal of reducing or eliminating fatal and nonfatal child drownings in Hawaiʻi.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the child drowning prevention initiative will include public safety messaging and plans to increase access to water safety and swim lessons via the YMCA and other organizations, with an emphasis on reaching low-income families.

“Every year in Hawaiʻi, we lose young children to fatal drownings, and we see many more in our trauma centers and emergency departments,” said Garrett D. Hall, the state trauma program manager and acting branch chief of the Emergency Medical Services and Injury Prevention System Branch. “Some children suffer long-term health effects such as brain damage. Toddlers are especially at risk, as are children with health conditions. However, drownings are preventable, and our goal is to protect children from drowning in Hawai‘i.”

The department is partnering with the YMCA on its “Phones Down, Eyes Up™” campaign, which encourages parents and caregivers to designate a “water watcher”—an adult who stays focused and free from distractions like phones, conversations, or alcohol to maintain constant visual contact with all children in or near the water.

The public can help protect their loved ones in various ways:

• Install barriers, including four-sided fencing with latching gates and alarms in pools;
• Empty wading pools after every use;
• Enroll children in swim lessons that include water safety skills. Lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by 88% and should be combined with other protective factors;
• Go to lifeguarded beaches and pay attention to signs and ocean conditions;
• Wear U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal flotation devices while aboard a vessel operating or anchored offshore, including on SUPs and kayaks.

Personal flotation devices are required for children 12 years and under. Parents and caregivers should learn CPR in case of an emergency. The American Red Cross offers a free online class on water safety for parents and caregivers and fee-based CPR classes.

The Hawaiʻi Water Safety Coalition’s 2025 Hawaiʻi Water Safety Plan: I Palekana Kākou Ma Ka Wai (Let Us Be Safe in the Water), “a roadmap to ensure that everyone in Hawaiʻi is safe in, on, or around the water,” will incorporate guidance from the Department of Health, the CDC, and the World Health Organization.

Hawaiʻi’s plan has specific action recommendations that address the state’s unique ocean and aquatic environments and the cultural, social, and economic factors that affect the state’s drowning numbers. The coalition will host a meeting to discuss the plan on May 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Waikīkī.