Anyone can drown, but it can almost always be prevented. Yet every year nearly a quarter of a million people lose their lives to drowning, and almost 82,000 of them are children aged 1 to 14 years.

Drowning is  abrupt, silent and shocking, with people often not realizing it’s happening until it’s too late.

What leads to drowning often happens in just a few seconds:

A small child slipping unnoticed into a pond or pool on a sunny afternoon;

Feeling invincible after a few drinks and jumping into the ocean for a swim;

Accepting that one extra passenger on the boat, despite knowing it might capsize;

Deciding it’s too much of a hassle to put on that lifejacket.

So much can happen in a single moment. But with the right awareness and actions, what happens in those seconds can also be changed – for the better.

Seconds can save a life.

Do you have a story about the seconds before and during an incident of drowning?

What did you witness?

Were there any effective measures you took that prevented drowning from happening?

Any advice you could give to your family and friends about drowning prevention?

This World Drowning Prevention Day, we invite everyone to share stories about drowning prevention on social media. Help us to raise awareness on effective measures that helped to save a life from drowning.

Some examples include:

• Keeping watch over children while they are near water
• Checking the weather forecast before boating
• Choosing to not consume alcohol or drugs before entering water
• Putting on a lifejacket when fishing 
• Ensuring swimming pools are fenced and access controlled

Share your story, tag @WHO, and use the hashtag #DrowningPrevention on social media in the leadup to World Drowning Prevention Day. Stories published on Instagram might get featured on the WHO account!

 There are six evidence-based, low-cost drowning prevention interventions that countries and organizations can use to drastically reduce the risk of drowning. These include: