The prevention of child drowning: the causal factors and social determinants impacting fatalities in portable pools.

Issue Addressed: There is a scarcity of research into portable pool drowning and its prevention. This total population study examines fatal drowning among children under five in portable pools in Australia.

Methods: All child drowning deaths in portable pools for the period 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2018 were identified.

Unintentional fatal child drowning in the bath: A 12-year Australian review (2002-2014).

Aim: To establish the prevalence of unintentional fatal drowning in baths involving children <18 years in Australia and to identify causal factors to underpin prevention.

Methods: We report a total population study of all childhood (0-17 years) unintentional drowning fatalities in baths (bathtubs, spa baths and showers) in Australia between 1 July 2002 and 30 June 2014. Demographic, forensic and aetiological data (including co-bathing, use of bath aids, supervision and enactment of cardiopulmonary resuscitation) were documented for each victim.

Drowning fatalities in childhood: the role of pre-existing medical conditions.

Objectives: This study is an analysis of the contribution of pre-existing medical conditions to unintentional fatal child (0-14 years) drowning and a of critique prevention stratagems, with an exploration of issues of equity in recreation.

Design: This study is a total population, cross-sectional audit of all demographic, forensic and on-site situational details surrounding unintentional fatal drowning of children 0-14 years in Australia for the period of 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2012. Data were sourced from the National (Australia) Coronial Information System.

A pioneer of Australian paediatrics: Dr Henry Edward Brown (1858-1931).

The emergence of paediatrics as a specialty in Australian medicine dates from the last two decades of the 19th century. Among the pioneers of pre-Federation paediatrics, we include Dr Henry Edward Brown (1858-1931), an Irish-born physician and surgeon who became the first paediatrician to practise in the northern half of the Australian continent. In 1885, he was appointed as the medical superintendent of the Rockhampton Children's Hospital, itself a pioneer institution in the care of sick and injured children.

Australian orchids and the doctors they commemorate.

Botanical taxonomy is a repository of medical biographical information. Such botanical memorials include the names of some indigenous orchids of Australia. By searching reference texts and journals relating to Australian botany and Australian orchidology, as well as Australian and international medical and botanical biographical texts, I identified 30 orchids indigenous to Australia whose names commemorate doctors and other medical professionals.

Snorkelling-related deaths in Australia, 1994-2006.

Objective: To examine the frequency and causes of snorkelling-related deaths in Australia.

Design, Setting And Subjects: We conducted a retrospective analysis of snorkelling-related deaths recorded in Australia from 1994 to 2006 inclusive, based on information from the Divers Alert Network Asia-Pacific database, the National Coroners Information System, coronial files from all states and territories, and annual national drowning reports.

Main Outcome Measures: Number and attributed causes of snorkelling-related deaths.

Paediatrics and the doctor-soldier.

Sick and injured children, like combatants wounded by shot and shell in war, are disproportionately represented in the tallies of both man-made and national disasters. Paediatricians have a particularly proud heritage of military service, a nexus dating in Australia from the early 19th century. This paper traces this link between service to children in peacetime and the care of servicemen, women and children in times of war and disaster.

Drowning for love: the aquatic victim-instead-of-rescuer syndrome: drowning fatalities involving those attempting to rescue a child.

Introduction: Non-intentional child drowning remains a leading cause of child mortality. A related and secondary syndrome is composed of those who drown in impulsive, altruistic attempts to go to the aid of a drowning child. Such 'rescuers' who attempt to save a drowning child may themselves drown, a tragic event we term the AVIR syndrome or aquatic victim-instead-of-rescuer.

Reducing drowning deaths: the continued challenge of immersion fatalities in Australia.

Objective: To explore 5 years of drowning deaths in Australia compared with a previous Australian study a decade earlier, and to assess the feasibility of achieving a 50% reduction in unintentional drowning deaths by 2020.

Design And Setting: An audit of all unintentional drowning deaths in Australia using data from the National Coroners Information System for 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2007.

Main Outcome Measures: Number and rate of drowning deaths, by age, sex, location, activity, place of birth, visitor status, and involvement of alcohol or drugs.