A new definition of drowning: towards documentation and prevention of a global public health problem.

Drowning is a major global public health problem. Effective prevention of drowning requires programmes and policies that address known risk factors throughout the world. To develop a uniform and internationally accepted definition that permits all relevant cases to be counted, an international consensus procedure was conducted. The consensus was that the new definition should include both cases of fatal and nonfatal drowning. The following definition was adopted: 'Drowning is the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion/immersion in liquid'. Drowning outcomes should be classified as: death, morbidity and no morbidity. Use of this definition should support future activities and drowning surveillance worldwide and lead to more reliable and comprehensive epidemiological information on drowning.