The Drowning Prevention Research Online Meeting took place from 11-13 October 2023 in collaboration with the International Drowning Research Alliance (IDRA). The meeting provided the opportunity to those working in drowning prevention and treatment to present and listen to the most recent advances in the areas of: drowning prevention and education, climate change and drowning, and the medical & physiological aspects of drowning.

Drowning remains a global pandemic claiming the lives of at least 1000 people a day (2.5 million in 10 years), and leaving many more with life-long morbidity. Nearly two-thirds of those that die are under 30 years old, with a quarter of these being under 5 years old. This represents over 64 million years of life lost, over 10 years. The majority of drownings are from low-income countries and the drowning threat is set to get worse with climate change and rising sea levels: three quarter of a billion people are currently living below predicted high tide levels.

Time stamps:
00:00 - Professor Mike Tipton, Extreme Environments Laboratory, University of Portsmouth, UK and Adey Mayhew, Surf Life Saving GB, UK
Welcome and Introductions

02:22 - Dr David Szpilman, SOBRASA, Brasil
World Drowning Prevention Day: How was the Brazilian action impact in 2023?.

15:37 - Luis-Miguel Pascual-Gomez, Escuela Segoviana de Socorrismo, Spain
Reflections on how to expand the field and effectiveness of drowning prevention messages.

32:51 - Carlene McAvoy, The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, UK
Local authority approaches to managing water safety: A 10-year comparative analysis (Scotland).

42:55 - Jeferson Luiz França, Military Fire Department, TORRES-RS, Brazil
The construction of Sobrasa CPR mannequins in public schools - a measure of prevention.

46:32 - Professor Joel de Oliveira, Surfing Medicine International, Porto, Portugal
Surfers as bystanders rescuers.

56:01 - Dr Catherine Chatfield-Ball, Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Trust, Exeter, UK
DROWN-ICU: Evaluating socio-economic impact of drowning in Southwest England. (Pilot project).

01:08:03 - Professor Joost Bierens, Extreme Environments Laboratory, University of Portsmouth, UK
Climate change and drowning 1.

01:22:27 - Dr Justin Sempsrott, Lifeguards Without Borders, US
Climate change and drowning 2 .

01:35:55 - David Walker, The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, UK
National drowning prevention platforms: Opportunities and new questions from the WAID2 system.

01:57:04 - Dr Ogilvie Thom, James Cook University, Australia
Normal respiratory exam in drowning at emergency department presentation allows rapid discharge from the ED.

02:20:40 - Dr Martin Barwood, Leeds Trinity University, UK
Using geospatial methods to identify clusters of drownings: Towards identifying environmental risk factors in UK drownings to inform prevention.

The meeting was held over three days to ensure global participation and to maximise research dissemination and discussion.