Miami Dade County Drowning Prevention Campaign: A Community Empowerment Approach

Fatal drowning remains the second major cause of injury-related deaths among children under the age of 4, after motor-vehicle accidents. Among the same age group in the state of Florida, it ranks as the leading cause of unintentional injury related death. The aim of this project is to partner with daycare centers, places of worship and community nonprofit organizations to create campaign strategies, develop and distribute drowning prevention materials in the form of a toolkit and train staff and parents in life-saving skills. A total of 50 community partners are implementing the drowning prevention toolkit. The intent of the toolkit is to reinforce the importance of direct supervision, consistent and proper use of pool barriers and obtaining a proficiency in cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR). A subgroup of community partners host CPR training classes for parents and childcare providers. Partners are equipped to provide practice and retraining services in an effort to address concerns of diminished efficacy over time following CPR training classes. Process measures assess stages of toolkit implementation, perceived barriers to implementation and the impact of community liaisons on community partners' compliance with campaign tasks. Outcomes of the community approach to drowning prevention will inform local and state health agencies of the viability of using nontraditional community partners as a means of disseminating childhood injury prevention information as well as facilitators of behavior change.