Academics are looking to redefine the terminology used for drowning or non-drowning incidents.

Drown: To die or cause to die by suffocating in water or other liquid. That's the dictionary definition and one that everybody understands.

For centuries people have either drowned, or nearly drowned. A near drowning is somebody who nearly drowns but doesn't, usually because of intervention by surf life savers.

Health professionals have been arguing for a few years now that the term ‘near drowning' is abandoned terminology.

Because it's been used for both survivors of drowning and for those that died at some point in time after initial resuscitation was successful, it creates confusion, says a report the NZ Medical Journal by Director of Emergency Medicine Research, Adult Emergency Department, Auckland City Hospital, Peter Jones, and The University of Auckland Health and Physical Education Faculty of Education principal lecturer Kevin Moran.

They argue that people either survive drowning or they don't.

By changing the meaning of drowning from that of the dictionary meaning of the word - a result, death – to that of a process; they say the international drowning prevention community has regarded ‘near drowning' as obsolete for 10 years.

They say New Zealand health professionals have a responsibility to promote the use of agreed international terminology.

'The international drowning prevention community have regarded this term as obsolete for over 10 years since drowning was defined as a process rather than a product. Just as you wouldn't say someone had a ‘near-asthma attack', so too with drowning,” says the paper.

As well as showing the international community local medical practitioners are up to date with current international thinking, they argue the change will help to improve the quality of the data New Zealand medical practitioners are able to collect about drowning and the ability to contribute to improvements in resuscitation techniques through research.

For the purposes of research the definitions are:

Drowning: The process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion or immersion in liquid.

Non-fatal drowning: Survival after drowning. This is further classified as non-fatal drowning with morbidity or no morbidity.

Fatal drowning: Death due to drowning.

Submersion: The whole body is under water.

Immersion: Part of the body is covered in water. For drowning to occur the face and airway would have to be immersed.

Witnessed: Drowning episode is observed from the onset of immersion or submersion.

Unwitnessed: Victim found in water, no-one saw the event.

Drowning is a leading cause of unintentional injury resulting in death in New Zealand. New Zealand's drowning rate is still higher than Australia, 2.3 vs. 1.27 per 100,000, the United States and Great Britain.

In 2012, 176 patients required hospitalisation for drowning.