Predicting Outcomes in Drowning

By their nature, drownings commonly occur in settings with significant risks for rescuers. The potential for survival with good neurological recovery can inform the decision to attempt rescue or body recovery. These authors conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the associations between factors often known to responders (submersion duration, age, water temperature, salinity, and response time) and favorable survival and neurological outcomes.

Twenty-four cohort studies were included in the analysis. Quality of the evidence was low overall, largely because few studies used multivariate analyses. At all submersion time intervals analyzed (ranging from ≤5–6 vs. >5–6 minutes to ≤15–25 vs. >15–25 minutes), shorter submersion…