Feasibility study of the Utstein Style For Drowning to aid data collection on the resuscitation of drowning victims

The revised Utstein Style For Drowning (USFD) was published in 2015. Core data were considered feasible to be reported in most health systems worldwide. We aimed to determine the suitability of the USFD as a template for reporting data from drowning research.

Clinical records of 437 consecutive drowning presentations to the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service Emergency Departments (ED) between 1/1/2015 and 31/12/2021 were examined for data availability to complete the USFD. The proportions of patients with each variable documented is reported. Time taken to record core and supplementary variables was recorded for 120 consecutive patients with severity of drowning Grade 1 or higher.

There were 437 patients, including 227 (51.9%) aged less than 16 years. There were 253 (57.9%) males and 184 (42.1%) females. Sixty-one patients (13.9%) received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). There were nine (2.1%) deaths after presentation to the ED. Median time for data entry was 17 minutes for core variables and 6 min for supplementary. This increased to 29 + 6 minutes for patients in cardiac arrest. Sixteen (32.7%) of 49 core variables and four (13.3%) of 30 supplementary variables were documented 100% of the time. One (2.0%) core and seven (23.3%) supplementary variables were never documented. Duration of submersion was documented in 100 (22.9%) patients.

USFD is time consuming to complete. Data availability to enable completion of the USFD varies widely, even in a resource rich health system. These results should be considered in future revisions of the USFD.