ByAndrea Rainone•

6 hours ago

Updated: July 10, 2026, 6:49 am EDTPublished: July 10, 2025, 6:48 am EDT

Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1-4 and claims about 4,000 American lives each year — and it rarely looks like what you've seen on TV. So we sought out an expert on the subject: Dr. Meghan Martin is a pediatric emergency physician in Pinellas County, Florida, where she has seen hundreds of kids who’ve survived or died in drowning incidents. She describes what drowning really looks like and what you should be doing to prevent it.