Pool fences and life jackets could save hundreds of lives, CDC estimates

Hundreds of lives could be saved each year by broader use of life jackets and more fences around swimming pools, according to new modeling from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers, in one of the last studies produced by some of the agency's injury prevention experts before they were eliminated by layoffs this year.

"These known strategies are already helping to prevent drowning incidents, but there remains a substantial unrealised potential for saving more lives," wrote the authors of the study, which was published this week in the Injury Prevention journal.

Researchers aimed to estimate the number of deaths each year caused by two factors: inadequate fencing to prevent young children from wandering into swimming pools and Americans not wearing a life jacket while boating.