U.S. National Water Safety Action Plan

About U.S. National Water Safety Action Plan

The U.S. National Water Safety Action Plan (USNWSAP) provides guidelines and tools to reduce drowning across the country. Hundreds of volunteer drowning prevention experts and partners created the plan over four years. A Steering Committee of representatives of organizations with a common goal to prevent drowning led this effort. This collaboration gives communities the tools they need to make local water safety plans. The mission of USNWSAP is to prevent drowning in the United States by acting on evidence and making water safety a part of daily life.

The plan includes 99 action recommendations, as well as a list of national implications or suggestions. The national implications support organizations to carry out the 99 recommendations at the community, county, and state levels. The plan also contains templates that can help organizations start working to prevent drowning in their local communities. The Steering Committee is developing a research agenda and additional guidance tools that they will release in the coming months.

Working with CDC

CDC is one of many organizations that contributed to the USNWSAP. CDC's work and partnership tie into the USNWSAP mission through:

• Enhancing drowning data or information, including:
  • Partnering to develop a death scene investigation protocol or process with the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) and the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention.
  • Supporting Child Death Review teams to use this tool to collect better data on drowning deaths.
• Researching basic swimming and water safety skills training in partnership with the American Red Cross and the YMCA.

Explore the USNWSAP

Visit Water Safety USA to learn more and view the action plan and resources, including:

• Case Studies
• Implementation Guide
• Social Media Toolkits
• 12-step Reflection to Action Process to help plan programs