Table 1.

Select Considerations in Water-Related Deaths with Corresponding Examples

Natural death preceding or during submersion	Coronary artery thrombosis with sudden cardiac death while swimming; fatal arrhythmia due to cardiac channelopathy while underwater swimming; Nontraumatic seizure disorder with seizure onset while swimming
Homicidal drowning	Forcibly holding or pulling victim under water; pushing of victim into water; victim incapacitation by inflicted injury or intoxication while in/near water
Homicidal injury with body disposal	Lethal blunt, sharp, or asphyxial injury followed by weighted body submersion
Suicidal drowning	Submersion assisted by self-tying of hands and/or feet or use of weighted materials (i.e., backpack filled with large rocks)
Accidental drowning	Precipitated by swim fatigue, swim inability, drug and alcohol intoxication, equipment failure, carbon monoxide poisoning from motorized vessels, incapacitating injury, rough/swift waters, temperature extremes (i.e., causing hypothermia), entanglement by underwater objects, unsecured or unsupervised locations (i.e., ponds, lakes, pools), electrical current from defective pool lights, electrical current from appliance submerged in bathtub, entrapment by pool drains
Accidental death from trauma preceding or accompanying submersion with drowning	Lethal blunt force, head, neck, and torso trauma from fall, diving with impact, or watercraft collision
Nontraumatic accidental death precluding the drowning process	Pre- or peri-submersion lethal drug or medication overdose