title: Drowning in Pretoria, South Africa: A 10-year review.
abstract: Drowning is classified as the 3rd leading cause of accidental deaths worldwide and is deemed to be a preventable cause of death. Bodies retrieved from a water medium pose several challenges to the forensic pathologist with the diagnosis of drowning being primarily one of exclusion. The aim of this study was to do a retrospective descriptive case audit of bodies retrieved from water and immersion related deaths, which were investigated at the Pretoria Medico-Legal Laboratory (PMLL) over a 10 year period (January 2002 through December 2011). A total of 346 cases were identified for inclusion into this study. In 6% (20) of these cases, the death was not related to drowning; in 14% (48) no clear cause of death could be ascertained and in 278 cases (80%) the cause of death was considered to have been due to drowning. Infants (under 1 year, of age) constituted 41 (15%) of the cases; toddlers (aged 1-2 years) comprised 52 (19%) cases; children (aged 2-13 years) 49 (18%) cases; adolescents (aged 13-18 years) comprised 10 (3%) cases; adults (above 18, years) made up 126 (45%) of the cases. The majority of the drownings, occurred in swimming pools [125 cases (38%)]. In infants 23 (56%) of, drownings occurred in swimming pools followed by buckets [7 cases (17%)]. Sixty-nine per cent of toddler drownings (36 cases) occurred in swimming, pools. In the adult population, 40 (32%) of cases occurred in pools and 35 cases (28%) in rivers. Positive blood alcohol results were recorded in 48, (42%) out of 113 cases where the test was requested, 40 (35%) of these, cases higher than 0.05 g per 100 ml. This study suggests that many drowning deaths in Pretoria may be preventable by introducing greater public awareness of the risks and instituting relatively simple, protective measures.
authors.affiliation: University of Pretoria, Department of Forensic Medicine, Private Bag X323, Arcadia, 0007, South Africa.
authors.forename: N K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.affiliation: University of Pretoria, Department of Forensic Medicine, Private Bag X323, Arcadia, 0007, South Africa. Electronic address: lorraine.dutoit@up.ac.za.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: du Toit-Prinsloo
authors.affiliation: University of Pretoria, Department of Forensic Medicine, Private Bag X323, Arcadia, 0007, South Africa.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Saayman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000067401:Blood Alcohol Content; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004332:Drowning / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012151:Resuscitation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D045483:Rivers; D012621:Seasons; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D013551:Swimming Pools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000067401:Blood Alcohol Content
keywords: Bodies retrieved from water; Childhood deaths; Drowning; Emhysema aquosum; Hemolytic staining of the aorta; Medico-legal investigation of death