Evidence-Based Education to Enhance Swim School Staff Knowledge Regarding Drowning Terminology

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of this project is to educate staff at Hubbard Family Swim School regarding correct drowning terminology, how to discuss caregiver concerns regarding dry drowning, what symptoms to look out for after a drowning event, and to evaluate their perceived comfort level with discussing drowning terminology with caregivers of swimmers at Hubbard Family Swim School. Background. The World Health Organization and The World Congress of Drowning revised the definition of drowning in 2002. Despite this, studies have shown that over 25 different definitions of drowning are still being used in the literature and medical community. Another study showed that peer-reviewed articles from 2010 to 2016 discussing drowning used non-accepted terminology regarding drowning. This indicates that education is still needed to discuss correct drowning terminology. Many cases of alleged dry drowning are reported every year, although each case has been found to be due to an underlying medical diagnosis. Methods. This quality improvement project consisted of conducting an in-person educational session for a single group of swim school staff members. The participants underwent a pretest and posttest questionnaire to evaluate the effectiveness of the presentation. A convenience sample was used to recruit participants for this project. Participants were sent an email with information regarding the project along with the disclosure form and then given the choice to participate. Results. A total of seven eligible participants participated in this project. All seven participants completed the pretest, educational session, and posttest. The scores showed increased participant knowledge between the pretest and posttest surveys for the knowledge-based questions. The average score on the pretest survey was 17.14%. For the posttest survey, all seven participants scored 5/5 (100%) on the five knowledge-based questions. This data was analyzed, and the results were considered statistically significant. Conclusion. This project was highly effective since there was a statistically significant increase in the knowledge-based questions. The posttest survey showed increased participants' comfort, familiarity, and knowledge of dry drowning, drowning terminology, and signs and symptoms to look out for after a drowning event.