25 July 2013

Drowning a Big Cause of Deaths in Cambodia

Too often a day out swimming ends
in tragedy.
According to a UNICEF report it is not malaria, dengue fever or traffic accidents that is the biggest killer of Cambodian children.

 Rather, it is drowning.

Last year's report claimed that about 1,800 Cambodian children drown every year with the median age of those children being just 4.

Children who have drowned are rarely taken to hospital and thus the number of drownings is probably significantly understated.

It's estimated that there was no attempt at resuscitation of 40% of Cambodian drowning victims and another 50% of resuscitation attempts where of a most unhelpful kind; jumping on a victim's chest to eject the water and forcing a stick down the throat to induce vomiting are two common attempts at life-saving. 

And another is heating the victim over a fire to try and dry-up the water in the body.

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