Swimming and injury prevention for Aboriginal communities in Ontario

Abstract

The injury death rate among Aboriginal infants/children is almost four times higher than the Canadian population – Aboriginal toddlers are 15 times more likely to drown than other children. Why? Because many communities are close to open water that are used for livelihood, transportation and recreation and have less access to swimming lessons/lifesaving training. The need to provide training in swimming and injury prevention has been identified as necessary by Aboriginal communities.