A Self-Help Drowning Prevention and Survival Guide

DROWNPROOF shines a light on the causes, conditions, and circumstances that lead to drowning and offers takeaways to help manage them.

The content is based on an 18-year study of drowning accidents reported by local news media in the New York tristate area (1996–2014). Over time, this 18-year study has shown to be a very telling “portal” into the reasons people accidentally drown globally, as well as locally.

By design, the length of DROWNPROOF is limited to 86 pages of carefully chosen conversational content. The general public learning curve on accidental drowning is alarmingly low. DROWNPROOF seeks to change that.

The author, John Neuner — a retired lifelong open water swimmer — was employed by New York City for 5 years as a lifeguard on Orchard Beach in the Bronx (1961–1965), 12 years as the swimming teacher at PS 32 in the Bronx (1980–1992), and 4 years as the developer/coordinator of the Swim-To-Safety Drowning Prevention Program, a city-wide drowning prevention initiative (1998–2002).

To date, accidental drowning is not on the public’s radar as a real safety concern — but it should be.