Headlines - "NOYADES 2012" Survey: June 1 – September 30, 2012

In France, every summer, drowning accounts for approximately 500 accidental deaths across all age groups.

This year, the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS) launched a new survey on drowning, in collaboration with the Directorate General for Civil Security and Crisis Management of the Ministry of the Interior.

As in previous years, the "NOYADES 2012" survey covers the entire summer period, from June 1 to September 30, 2012. Its objective is to collect and analyze data on drownings that occurred in metropolitan France and the overseas departments and territories (DOM-TOM), in order to guide prevention and regulatory efforts. The survey records the number of drowning victims in all locations, describes the victims’ profiles and their fates, and provides information on the circumstances surrounding the drownings.

This survey relies on data collection via a questionnaire available on the InVS website. All individuals and organizations involved in emergency response participate in the data collection: firefighters, emergency and resuscitation services, lifeguards, regional operational surveillance and rescue centers, the National Society for Sea Rescue, gendarmes, police officers, the river police, Republican Security Companies, etc.As a reminder, the last drowning survey conducted in 2009 recorded 1,366 accidental drownings, of which 462 (34%) resulted in death: 14% of these drownings involved children under 6 years of age (197 drownings, including 39 deaths) and 41% involved adults over 45 years of age (566, including 257 deaths). The majority of drownings occurred at sea (781, including 187 deaths). Eighty-five occurred in Poitou-Charentes