Editorial Policy: How We Source and Check

Every fact on this website comes from a source we link to, so you can check it yourself. Our guides are researched and drafted with the help of AI tools, then checked against the sources they cite before they are published. This page explains how that works, what we will and won't publish, and how to tell us when we get something wrong.

How a guide is made

Start with a real question. We write for what families, teachers, camps and communities actually need to know, such as how to choose a life jacket or what to say to a grieving sibling.
Research official sources. We look first to public health agencies, pediatric and medical associations, and national water-safety organizations (see the list below).
Draft with AI assistance. AI tools help us research, organize and write a first draft in plain language.
Check every fact against its source. Before a guide is published, each statistic and safety instruction is compared with the source page it cites. If we can't find a claim on a reliable source, we take it out.
Run our publishing checks. An automated check blocks a page with missing sources, broken links or claims we never make.
Publish with the date. Each guide shows the date it was last updated and lists its sources at the bottom.

We are open about the AI step because you deserve to know how our pages are made. No doctor, nurse or other clinician has signed off on our guides, and we never say they have. That is one more reason we link every fact to the expert source behind it.

The sources we trust

We prefer primary, official sources. They include:

U.S. public health and safety agencies: the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Pool Safely, the U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA and the National Weather Service, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers;
the World Health Organization;
the American Academy of Pediatrics and its HealthyChildren.org site, and the American Heart Association;
national water-safety organizations, such as the American Red Cross, the YMCA, the USA Swimming Foundation, the U.S. Lifesaving Association and the National Drowning Prevention Alliance;
crisis and mental health services, such as SAMHSA and the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline;
university, hospital and peer-reviewed research.

We use blogs and news stories only to find a primary source, never as the source itself.

How we handle statistics

Every number has a year and a source, linked on the page.
We use the most recent official figure we can find, and we keep the source's own wording, such as “about,” “nearly” or “children under 15.” We don't round figures up to make them sound bigger.
When sources disagree, we say which one we used. For example, CDC reports about 4,000 drowning deaths a year in the U.S. on average from 2012 to 2021 (opens in a new tab), and over 4,500 a year from 2020 to 2022 (opens in a new tab). The National Drowning Prevention Alliance also gives over 4,500 a year (opens in a new tab) because its count includes boating and water-transport deaths. We name the years and the source every time.
If no good data exists, we say so. For example, we have not found official U.S. data on swimming ability in South Asian or Bangladeshi-American communities, so we don't publish a number for it.

How we write safety advice

Emergencies come first. Emergency pages lead with “Call 911.”
We follow official guidance. Rescue advice is “reach or throw, don't go.” For CPR, we explain why it matters and where to get trained, such as through the American Red Cross (opens in a new tab). We don't print CPR steps that could differ from what a certified course teaches.
We don't diagnose or give legal advice. We point you to a doctor, a lawyer or your local authority when you need one.
We name types of equipment, not brands. We don't endorse products, take affiliate commissions, run ads or publish sponsored content.
We write without fear or blame. Every hazard comes with something you can do about it.

Writing about grief and loss

Pages about grief and loss show how to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) and remind readers to call 911 in an emergency. We write about loss gently and never in a sensational way. We link only to support services whose details we have checked on their own websites, and a link is not an endorsement.

Translations

We write in English first. We are working on Bengali versions of selected pages. Each one stays marked “translation under review,” and isn't offered to search engines, until a fluent reviewer has checked it. The English page is always the reference.

Keeping pages up to date

Each guide shows the date it was last updated.
We aim to review every guide at least once a year, and sooner when a source changes. Official statistics are often updated each year.
Time-sensitive details, such as sign-up dates for free swim lessons, are checked again before each season.

Corrections

We want to know when we get something wrong. If you spot a mistake, an outdated figure or a broken link:

send us a message and choose “This website (a mistake or a broken link)”;
tell us the page and what looks wrong;
if you can, include a link to the source that shows the correct information.

We check the source, fix the page if we were wrong, and change its updated date. If the mistake affected safety advice, we fix it as quickly as we can.

What you can do today

Check a source. On any guide, scroll to the sources list and open one. Our pages should say what the source says.
Test what you know with the drowning myths quiz, then read what drowning really looks like.
Get real training: find a class through where to learn CPR.
Report a mistake through the contact form. Thank you for helping us keep every page right.