Ice-related winter drowning: an area for evidence-informed injury prevention

As global temperatures increase, ice formation on water bodies might slow and/or be of shorter duration, increasing risk for drowning injury and mortality during wintertime activities. This research explores the state of the scholarly literature on ice-related drownings and applies that knowledge to vital records data from Michigan in the Great Lakes region of the USA.

We conducted a systematic review of the scholarly literature on wintertime drownings to characterise the current state of the scholarly literature. Using death records from the Great Lakes region of the USA, we identify risk factors and describe temporal patterns of mortality.

Out of 469 unique articles, nine were included in this study. Papers were from the United States, Canada, Scandinavia and one multi-country study. Study lengths ranged from 5 to 30 years, including victims of all ages. Risk factors included alcohol use, particularly while operating snowmobiles. Results from Michigan, a Great Lakes state in the USA, suggest that while ice-related drownings are few (less than four per year), most deaths occur when driving snowmobiles or other kinds of motor vehicles onto frozen water bodies that might insufficiently support the weight of the vehicle.

Both the literature and mortality records from Michigan indicate that ice-related drowning mortality incidents are preventable and occur during recreational activities often associated with snowmobile use. With warming temperatures and unpredictable freezing patterns along with increasing wintertime recreational activities and snowmobile use, public health professionals should proactively consider new ways to prevent injuries and deaths.