Immersion deaths and drowning: issues arising in the investigation of bodies recovered from water

Excerpt

Drowning has been described in various ways however it generally refers to death within 24 h of a submersion incident, with “near drowning” as survival for at least 24 h after the incident [1]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) “drowning is the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion/immersion in liquid” [2]. The diagnosis is one of exclusion that requires a detailed history of a victim being found in or near water with no potentially lethal diseases/injuries present, unless these have initiated the drowning episode. Unfortunately, although the diagnosis of drowning may seem relatively straightforward, this may be far from the case. For example in unwitnessed cases questions may never be resolved concerning the exact circumstances and manner of death. It is also likely that official statistics on drowning deaths are underestimates [3]. …