WE ENVISION A TEXAS WHERE EVERYONE IS SAFE IN, ON, AND AROUND WATER.
Our Mission
The Texas Water Safety Coalition stands as a dedicated advocate for drowning prevention. By promoting education, legislative reforms, and community engagement, we stress that every drowning is preventable. Our initiatives aim to raise awareness about water safety and implement strategies that save lives in all Texas communities.
ABOUT
Our Mission
The Texas Water Safety Coalition stands as a dedicated advocate for drowning prevention. By promoting education, legislative reforms, and community engagement, we stress that every drowning is preventable. Our initiatives aim to raise awareness about water safety and implement strategies that save lives in all Texas communities.
Drowning Prevention Through Collaboration: A Snapshot Profile of the Texas Water Safety Coalition
Coalitions bring together individuals and organizations with shared goals, combining their resources and expertise to achieve collective impact. In the case of water safety and drowning prevention, a strong and diverse coalition is critical to raising awareness, developing a statewide strategy, and advocating for policy changes that reduce fatal and non-fatal drownings.
The Texas Water Safety Coalition was formed in 2023 towards ensuring that Texans are safe in, on, and around water. This report provides a brief snapshot profile of the coalition, offering insights into the number of members, organizations represented, types of organizations, and geographical spread within the state. It is hoped that this snapshot picture of the coalition's composition, based upon available data submitted by members (as of February 13, 2025), will be informative and foster a more cohesive and energetic approach to prevent drowning in Texas.
Snapshot Profile
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Consists of 168 members
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Represents over 100 organizations
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These organizations are quite diverse; the five leading type involve governmental agencies, swim schools, hospitals, non-profit organizations of families that have lost loved ones to drowning, and aquatic businesses (not swim schools) (e.g., maintenance, design)
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Members reside in 56 different cities across the state; though most large metropolitan areas have at least one member, over a quarter of the membership is in Austin.
KEY FINDINGS
Fatal Unintentional Drownings, Texas, 2006-2020
Texans died from unintentional drowning during the 15-year time period.
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On average, one Texan lost their life to drowning every day.
5,401
Compared to other states:
Texas had the
3
rd
number of total deaths due to unintentional drowning.
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Texas had the 17th highest death rate, at 1.3 fatal drownings per 100,000 population.
highest
The death rate for male Texans was
3x
as high as for female Texans.
In 2020, Texas had a higher total number of fatal drownings and higher death rate due to drowning than
14
all prior years.
Different types of water settings in Texas posed different levels of risk depending on age.
Infants under 1 year old
most often drowned while in bathtubs.
most often drowned while in swimming pools.
Children 1-4 and 5-14 years old
Teenagers 15 years and older
most often drowned while in natural waters.
Adults of all ages
most often drowned while in natural waters.
There were disparities in drowning risk based on race and ethnicity.
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Black Texans had a higher death rate compared to other races.
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Racial disparities in drowning death rates were larger for children than adults.
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Hispanic or Latino Texans had a lower death rate compared to Texans who are not Hispanic or Latino.
Young children were most at risk of drowning.
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Texas children 1-4 years old had the highest death rate from drowning of all age groups.
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Drowning was the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children 1-4 years old.
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Drowning killed more children 1-4 years old than birth defects, cancer, homicide, or heart disease.
Donations
Our organizations are only able to operate from the kindness of others.
Your donations allow us to fund impactful projects aimed at enhancing water safety standards and practices across Texas.
Organization 1
Knowledge is Power
Through outreach and workshops, we educate families and communities on essential water safety rules and drowning prevention strategies to foster a culture of awareness.
Organization 2
A Collective Voice
We collaborate with lawmakers and organizations to promote vital water safety legislation and standards, ensuring effective measures are implemented statewide.
Organization 3
Local Engagement
Engaging community members at various levels allows us to foster a united front in enhancing water safety measures and supporting local initiatives.