Aquatics Safety Advocates to Gather for National Drowning Prevention Symposium

The National Drowning Prevention Alliance annual symposium will be held March 8 - 9 in San Diego, California.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, February 14, 2012—Top aquatics safety experts and advocates will gather March 8-9 for the 11th Annual National Drowning Prevention Symposium. The event, organized by the National Drowning Prevention Alliance and sponsored by the Swim For Life Foundation, D&D Technologies and the United States Swim School Association will take place at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina in San Diego, California.

Stephen Beerman, BSc, MD, CCFP, FCFP, president of the International Life Saving Federation, headquartered in Belgium, will deliver the keynote address on March 8. His presentation “Immunization for Drowning Prevention” will draw insight from the 2011 World Conference on Drowning Prevention, held in Daning, Vietnam, and challenge attendees to approach drowning prevention from a public health perspective.  

“We chose the theme ‘Everybody In!’ for this symposium because it’s a water safety philosophy that is alive in San Diego,” said symposium co-chair Mary Ann Downing of San Diego, who serves on the NDPA board of directors. “Symposium attendees will be inspired by what they hear. Connections and life-changing collaborations will result and great ideas will flow outward from NDPA symposium participants,” said Downing, a member of the San Diego County Aquatic Council, host of the 2012 symposium.

“ ‘Everybody IN!’ means this symposium is relevant to everyone,” said Council President Manuel Gonzalez, aquatic supervisor for the city of Chula Vista, California and symposium co-chair. You may not realize that you hold an integral piece to the drowning prevention puzzle, but you do.”

Gonzalez, along with NDPA Executive Director Kim Burgess, of Fort Lauderdale, was recently named in the February issue of Aquatics International Magazine as among this year’s “Power 25”—outstanding aquatics industry leaders. Several other symposium speakers were also on the industry publication’s 2012 “Power 25” list, including: Rhonda Milner, bereaved mother of a shallow water blackout victim, who will speak on the topic, and Shaun Anderson, of USA Swimming, who will speak about Diversity in Aquatics.

Among the highlighted topics to be presented during the two-day educational event are:

March 8, 2012

• What Child Death Review Teams Can Tell Us About Drownings; Teresa Covington, M.D., director National Center for Child Death Review
• Asking the Right Questions: The Final Step in Managing Aquatic Risk; Mario Vittone, Maritime Safety Expert

March 9, 2012

• The Dangers and Benefits of Drowning in Cold Water; Gordon Gliesbrecht, Ph.D., University of Manitoba, Winnepeg, Canada
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) New Drowning Prevention Initiative; Julie Gilchrist, M.D., CDC epidemiologist

Olympic swimming athlete Christine Jennings of Longmont, Colorado, will attend the symposium as a special guest.

Drowning is among the top ten leading causes of unintentional death for all ages nationally. Between 1999 and 2009 an average of more than 3,500 U.S. lives were lost each year due to unintentional drowning.

The annual symposium highlights the best-of-the-best in drowning prevention educational programs, strategies, and products for individuals and organizations. Its purpose is to empower attendees so they can replicate successful events and educational activities in their own communities and improve public awareness. For more information, or to register, visit www.NDPA.org.

bev@payton.com

215-357-5075

The National Drowning Prevention Alliance is a volunteer-driven 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2004. NDPA members are dedicated to preventing drowning for all age groups in all bodies of water through public education, advocacy and strategic partnerships. The public is invited to join by visiting NDPA.org.

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