Research progress on passive strategies for drowning prevention technology
ZHU Yinchao1, WANG Sijia1, GUO Lihua2
1. Ningbo Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315010, China; 2. Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310051, China
Abstract:Drowning is a global public health issue characterized by sudden occurrence, insidious presentation, and poor health prognosis, which poses higher requirements for the time sensitivity, judgment accuracy, and response reliability of drowning prevention and control technologies. Among drowning prevention and control strategies, passive strategies can achieve injury prevention and control purposes through safely designed products, making them more effective than active strategies. This paper reviewed literature, books, and patent webpages related to drowning prevention and control technologies from January 2015 to August 2025. Based on the basic characteristics of drowning, this paper summarized innovative technologies for passive strategies including physical drowning hazard environments, drowning person identification, and rescue, analyzed and compared their technical principles, applicable scenarios, advantages and disadvantages, so as to provide the evidence for promoting interdisciplinary research and practical application of drowning prevention and control technologies.
[1] DENNY S A,QUAN L D,GILCHRIST J,et al.Prevention of drowning[J/OL].Pediatrics,2019,143(5)[2025-12-04].https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-0850. [2] World Health Organization.Global status report on drowning prevention 2024[M]. Geneva:WHO,2024. [3] 中国疾病预防控制中心慢性非传染性疾病预防控制中心,国家卫生健康委统计信息中心.中国死因监测数据集2021[M].北京:中国科学技术出版社,2022. [4] World Health Organization.Global report on drowning:preventing a leading killer[M]. Geneva:WHO,2014. [5] 段蕾蕾,王临虹.伤害与暴力预防控制理论与方法[M].北京:人民卫生出版社,2020. [6] JALALIFAR S,BELFORD A,ERFANI E,et al.Enhancing water safety:exploring recent technological approaches for drowning detection[J/OL].Sensors,2024,24(2)[2025-12-04].https://doi.org/10.3390/s24020331. [7] 段蕾蕾,邓晓,孟瑞琳,等.儿童溺水防控技术指南[M].北京:人民卫生出版社,2025. [8] ARMSTRONG E J,ERSKINE K L.Investigation of drowning deaths:a practical review[J].Acad Forensic Pathol,2018,8(1):8-43. [9] PEDEN A E,MAHONY A J,BARNSLEY P D,et al.Understanding the full burden of drowning:a retrospective,cross-sectional analysis of fatal and non-fatal drowning in Australia[J/OL].BMJ Open,2018,8(11)[2025-12-04].https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-024868. [10] QUAN L D,BIERENS J J L M,LIS R,et al.Predicting outcome of drowning at the scene:a systematic review and meta-analyses[J].Resuscitation,2016,104:63-75. [11] KAO W C,FAN Y L,HSU F R,et al.Next-Generation swimming pool drowning prevention strategy integrating AI and IoT technologies[J/OL].Heliyon,2024,10(18)[2025-12-04].https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e35484. [12] 乔姣姣,吕仁梦,周庆豪,等.一种自适应动态虚拟电子围栏的防溺水预警系统:CN120148187A[P].2025-06-13. [13] 魏银库,潘继民,李民宗,等.一种海滨浴场越界预警及溺水报警装置:CN206249532U[P].2017-06-13. [14] 陈学飞,郭寿凯,吕吉法.一种监测预警装置:CN219553061U[P].2023-08-18. [15] 陈榕,陈学飞,杨永鑫,等.夏季户外防范溺水事故工作策略与思考——以宁海水利防溺水事故工作为例[J].地方水利技术的应用与实践,2024(1):74-81. [16] SINDALL R,MECROW T,QUEIROGA A C,et al.Drowning risk and climate change:a state-of-the-art review[J].Inj Prev,2022,28(2):185-191. [17] KANCHANA A,KAVYA GR,KAVITHA C,et al.Automated drowning detection and security in swimming pool[J]. International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology,2017,4(6):2938-2940. [18] LYGOURAS E,SANTAVAS N,TAITZOGLOU A,et al.Unsupervised human detection with an embedded vision system on a fully autonomous UAV for search and rescue operations[J/OL].Sensors,2019,19(16)[2025-12-04].https://doi.org/10.3390/s19163542. [19] HOMIER V,DE CHAMPLAIN F,NOLAN M,et al.Identification of swimmers in distress using unmanned aerial vehicles:experience at the Mont-tremblant IRONMAN triathlon[J].Prehosp Emerg Care,2020,24(3):451-458. [20] K Y S,K P O,V R R.Autonomous utility vehicle (auvs) based emergency human drowning detection system using sonar and thermal detection methods[C]//2019 IEEE International Conference on Distributed Computing,VLSI,Electrical Circuits and Robotics (DISCOVER).August 11-12,2019,Manipal,India.IEEE,2020:1-6. [21] MARINHO F,CARVALHO C M,APOLINÁRIO F R,et al.Measuring light with light dependent resistors:an easy approach for optics experiments[J/OL].Eur J Phys,2019,40(3)[2025-12-04].https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1903.10053. [22] YU X L,CAO Z H,WU Z J,et al.A novel potential drowning detection system based on millimeter-wave radar[C]//2022 17th International Conference on Control,Automation,Robotics and Vision (ICARCV).December 11-13,2022,Singapore,Singapore.IEEE,2023:659-664. [23] ENG H, TOH K, YAU W,et al.DEWS:a live visual surveillance system for early drowning detection at pool[J].IEEE Trans Circuits Syst Video Technol,18(2):196-210. [24] XUE W Q,ZHANG Y J.Marine drowning detection method based on improved YOLOv5[C/OL]//4th International Conference on Internet of Things and Smart City (IoTSC2024).March 22-24,2024.Hangzhou,China.SPIE,2024[2025-12-04].https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3034947. [25] CUI Y H,LI M Q,HUANG X P,et al.Lightweight UAV image drowning detection method based on improved YOLOv7[C]//2024 WRC Symposium on Advanced Robotics and Automation(WRC SARA).August 23-23,2024,Beijing,China.IEEE,2024:350-356. [26] SHEHATA A M,MOHAMED E M,SALEM K L,et al.A survey of drowning detection techniques[C]//2021 International Mobile,Intelligent,and Ubiquitous Computing Conference (MIUCC).May 26-27,2021,Cairo,Egypt.IEEE,2021:286-290. [27] JALALIFAR S,KASHIZADEH A,MAHMOOD I,et al.A smart multi-sensor device to detect distress in swimmers[J/OL].Sensors,2022,22(3)[2025-12-04].https://doi.org/10.3390/s22031059. [28] JOHN S N,GODSWILL I,OSEMWEGIE O,et al.Design of a drowning rescue alert system[J]. International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology(IJMET),2019,10(1):1987-1995. [29] KAŁAMAJSKA E,MISIUREWICZ J,WEREMCZUK J.Wearable pulse oximeter for swimming pool safety[J/OL].Sensors,2022,22(10)[2025-12-04].https://dpi.org/10.3390/s22103823. [30] KULKARNI A,LAKHANI K,LOKHANDE S.A sensor based low cost drowning detection system for human life safety[C]//2016 5th International Conference on Reliability,Infocom Technologies and Optimization(Trends and Future Directions)(ICRITO).September 7-9,2016,Noida,India.IEEE,2016:301-306. [31] ZHU T X,NI Y M,ZHAO K Y,et al.A breathable knitted fabric-based smart system with enhanced superhydrophobicity for drowning alarming[J].ACS Nano,2022,16(11):18018-18026. [32] HUNSUCKER J L,DAVISON S J.Analysis of rescue and drowning history from a lifeguarded waterpark environment[J].Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot,2011,18(4):277-284. [33] DANH L V Q,HOAN T N K,VAN PHA H,et al.An early drowning detection system capable of locating swimmers in real time[C]//Impact of Artificial Intelligence,and the Fourth Industrial Revolution on Business Success.Cham:Springer,2023:175-186. [34] ZHU Y C,JIANG X,LI H,et al.Mortality among drowning rescuers in China,2013:a review of 225 rescue incidents from the press[J/OL].BMC Public Health,2015,15[2025-12-04].https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-2010-0. [35] JOSE A,UDUPA G.Gantry robot system for preventing drowning accidents in swimming pools[J].Mater Today Proc,2021,46:4975-4981. [36] ZHAO W W,YU D Y. AI-powered drowning prevention system launched to enhance water safety[EB/OL]. Heifei Institues of Physical Sciences,Chinese Academy of Sciences[2025-12-04].http://english.hf.cas.cn/nr/bth/202411/t20241101_693467.html. [37] ZHOU T Y,YANG J,LONG Q,et al.Design of an intelligent water-rescue life jacket system based on satellite positioning[C]//2023 13th International Conference on Information Technology in Medicine and Education(ITME).November 24-26,2023,Wuyishan,China.IEEE,2024:510-514.