Safety advocates alongside Stony Brook Children’s Hospital have released Suffolk County’s first Drowning Prevention Action Plan, after the county saw a 60% spike in drownings last year.
The plan's main goals are to collect and analyze data on drowning incidents, promote water safety, and increase public education and community outreach.
Water safety awareness should be more widespread and talked about all year round, according to Jamie Ryan, a pediatric nurse who specializes in pediatric injury prevention at Stony Brook Children's Hospital.
“It's not something that's just seasonal when you're out in front of open water, or when you're at a pool," Ryan said. "[It should be] something that we have a year-round understanding and appreciation for, knowing the dangers and the risks, and be able to speak to basic water safety practices very fluently."
Ryan said she wants to a better understanding of how and where drownings are occuring, because those details can lead to better prevention and improved messaging about water safety.
“What I'm really hoping to understand is some more of those intangible reasons why people might be drowning and the events leading up to the drowning event," Ryan said. "Maybe, what was the distraction, the lapse in supervision?"
County officials announced earlier this year that 24 drownings occurred in 2024, up from 15 in 2023.
