LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Matthew Perry, renowned for his role as the witty Chandler Bing in the beloved television series Friends, tragically passed away at the age of 54. Reports indicate that the actor lost his life in a drowning incident at a residence in Los Angeles.
Perry, who had a prolonged struggle with addiction to drugs and alcohol, was discovered in a jacuzzi at the residence, as reported by TMZ. First responders were dispatched to the scene in response to a cardiac arrest call.
The actor had recently shared a photo on his Instagram account, featuring him in a hot tub, though it remains unclear whether it was the same hot tub in which he was found.
While the circumstances surrounding Perry's demise have raised questions and skepticism, it is important to note that hot tub-related drownings are not as rare as one might assume. Despite the common perception that drowning incidents typically occur in swimming pools, it is well-documented that hot tub deaths happen regularly throughout the United States.
Hot tub drownings across the nation
A study reveals that approximately one American drowns almost daily in bathtubs, hot tubs, or spas. Notably, these incidents are disproportionately prevalent in Western states, where individuals often consume alcohol or drugs while in hot water.
Specifically, areas like New Mexico and Wyoming have reported hot tub drownings at a rate three times higher than the national average, based on a Scripps Howard News Service analysis of federal mortality records from 1999 to 2003.
California, leading the nation in hot tub ownership, reports a threefold higher likelihood of tub-related drownings compared to the state of New York, where both the rate of such incidents and hot tub ownership are considerably lower.
During the five-year period covered by the study, 1,676 Americans were reported to have drowned in a tub, averaging 335 per year. These victims range from infants and very young children to the elderly, but more than half of the tub-related deaths involve able-bodied individuals between the ages of 5 and 64.
Moreover, a report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) discloses that between 2014 and 2016, nearly 1,100 children under the age of 15 lost their lives in pool or spa-related drownings, with 46% of these tragedies occurring in home pools, hot tubs, and spas.
The significance of these tub-related fatalities is a subject of debate among public health experts. Some suggest that a portion of these deaths might involve undetected suicides or homicides, while federal officials acknowledge that tub drownings are insufficiently studied due to their rarity.
Safety experts point out that hot tub drownings in Western states are likely influenced by the combination of alcohol consumption and hot tub usage, which is more prevalent in the West than in the Northeast. The heat and alcohol intake can lead to a drop in blood pressure, causing people to faint or lose consciousness while in the water.
Connection between alcohol and tub drownings
Jonathan Howland, an epidemiologist at Boston University and an expert on drowning, emphasized, "You get into a hot tub to relax and you drink to relax. When you put those two things together, you get more than you bargain for."
He added, "The heat leads to dilation of the blood vessels, along with the alcohol. People are basically having a drop of blood pressure and having the equivalent of a faint."
Tony Gomez, a manager at the Injury and Violence Prevention Division of the Seattle Public Health Department, notes that up to 70% of adult drownings in tubs and pools investigated by his department in some years involved alcohol consumption.
"What we hear from those that survive or those that witnessed a drowning with alcohol-impaired swimmers (and) soakers is that they just fell asleep or went unconscious and slipped under the water," Gomez stated.
The study by Scripps Howard identifies the states with the highest rates of tub drownings, including New Mexico, Nevada, Wyoming, West Virginia, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Florida, while states with the fewest tub-related deaths include New York, North Carolina, Delaware, and North Dakota.
Additionally, some experts raise concerns that some of these tub deaths may have darker explanations. Andrea Zaferes, vice president of Lifeguard Systems Inc. and a homicidal drowning investigation instructor, believes that water is sometimes used as a weapon in homicides. "Our estimation is that about 20 percent of the drownings are homicides," Zaferes said, as quoted by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
