News as of June 14, 2012 - The French Institute for Public Health Surveillance launches a new edition of the NOYADES survey

The French Institute for Public Health Surveillance launches a new edition of the NOYADES survey In France, every summer, drowning accounts for approximately 500 accidental deaths across all age groups. This year, the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS) is launching a new survey on drowning, in collaboration with the Directorate General for Civil Security and Crisis Management of the Ministry of the Interior, covering the entire summer period from June 1 to September 30, 2012. Its objective is to collect and analyze data on drownings occurring in metropolitan France and the overseas departments and territories (DOM-TOM) to guide prevention and regulatory efforts. The survey records the number of drowning victims in all locations, describes the victims’ profiles and outcomes, and provides information on the circumstances surrounding the drownings.

As a reminder, the 2009 drowning survey recorded 1,366 accidental drownings, of which 462 (34%) resulted in death: 14% of these drownings involved children under 6 years of age (197 drownings, including 39 deaths) and 41% involved adults over 45 years of age (566, including 257 deaths). The majority of drownings occurred at sea (781, including 187 deaths).

Trends in indicators for the week of June 4–10, 2012:

• Allergies: moderate activity

• Heat-related illnesses: low activity

• Illnesses: moderate activity

• Reportable diseases: no specific changes to note

• Deaths: data unavailable this week

• Private practice and hospital emergency department activity: stable for SOS Médecins and in emergency departments for children under 1 year of age

• Weather data: Minimum and maximum temperatures below alert thresholds for all departments in the region.