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A lifeguard shortage in many parts of the U.S. means an increased drowning risk at pools and beaches this summer. Earlier this summer, SciLine interviewed Linda Quan, a pediatric emergency medicine physician and professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine, about drowning risks and what people should know to keep themselves and their children safe. Can you share some statistics about drowning in the United States? Linda Quan: About 4,000 people die every year from drowning in the United States. It’s one of the three leading causes of unintentional injury and death of those under 29 in this country. Toddlers, those 1 to 4 years of age, have the highest drowning rates of all age groups. And that’s true throughout the world. The recurring scenario in our country is that these toddlers fall into their home pool, to which they’ve gotten unsupervised access. The second-highest drowning rate is among teenagers in most states. This age group, and adults, drown mostly in open water – that means lakes or rivers, the ocean or ponds, and usually they’ve been swimming or boating in those settings. We’re also seeing an emerging epidemic of drowning among adults over age 45. And this hasn’t been well studied, but it’s mostly men, when they’re fishing or boating or swimming and not wearing life jackets. About 50% of the time, they’re drinking alcohol. This summer, some pools and beaches will not have lifeguards on duty. How can people stay safe? Linda Quan: You have to choose the site that you swim in wisely. You should put in extra effort to find that beach that does have a lifeguard. You must provide adequate supervision. Put away the cellphone or the book and not chat while the kids or teenagers are in the water. You also need to be within arm’s reach of the child or novice swimmer. The other thing you can do to help is to put your weak swimmers in life jackets. And get those people who can’t swim well – and again that could include your teenager – into swim lessons so they can learn the skills they need. Are there differences along racial, socioeconomic or gender lines when it comes to drowning risks? Linda Quan: Drowning is not a fair injury. Drowning risk varies among races and cultures and sexes in our country. White people have the lowest drowning rates overall, but they have the highest drowning rates in 1-to-4-year-olds. In our country, Native Americans and Alaskan Natives have the highest drowning rates in all age groups and in all settings. Nationally, Black people have higher drowning rates than white people. And these disparities between