Tag: Nonfatal drowning

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional injury death globally. The question, 'Does drowning count as death?' hinges on modern medical and forensic definitions, which distinguish between the initial respiratory impairment and the ultimate outcome, which may or may not be fatal.

Medically, there is no recognized condition known as secondary drowning; the term is considered a misnomer. The symptoms often associated with what the public calls secondary drowning are actually complications of a nonfatal drowning event, caused by inhaling water into the lungs.