The objective of this work was to identify which preventive factors are involved in drowning. Files of 895 autopsies from 1983 through 1989 by the coroner site office were reviewed. During this seven year period, the annual mortality for drowning was 2.6 per 100,000 population. Males had a higher annual mortality rate (4.2 per 100,000) than females (1.1 per 100,000). The age group between one and four years old had the highest mortality rate (7.6 per 100,000). Deaths tend to cluster around summer. Most of the deaths occurred in house cisterns (19.3%), dams/lakes (16.9%), rivers/canals (14.3%), water wells (12.5%) and swimming pools (10.1%). A third of the deaths occurred at home. The relationship alcohol-drowning starts to stand out in the age group between 10 and 14 years old but get its highest percentage in the age group 35-39 (74%). There are two important findings that is necessary to point out: drowning occurring at home and the relationship between drowning and alcohol ingestion.