‘NOT ON MY WATCH’
Drowning injuries and fatalities are so commonplace that the stories could fill up whole newspapers.
The CDC estimates that about 10 people die from drowning in the U.S. every day.
Children ages 1 through 4 have the highest drowning rates and most of those drownings happen in home swimming pools.
Drowning events are real, tragic, frequently preventable,and much more than just statistics.
There are measures that service technicians can take to promote drowning awareness.
Speak to parents about removing toys and other temptations from the pool area.
Encourage parents to learn about the layers of protection:pool covers, gates and alarms.
Remind parents there is no substitution for total supervision around the pool area.
Service professionals are in peoples’ backyards every day, and in a unique position to point out danger areas, but may not do so unless the drowning problem is brought home to them.
To that end, the following is a description of just some of the drowning incidents that have recently occurred.
Louisville, Kentucky, June 22 —
2-year-old Xander Lee drowned in his home’s aboveground pool.
Zilwaukee, Michigan, June 23 —
A 2-year-old girl died eight days after drowning in residential pool.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 26 —
17-year-old Kaylee Alston died in a murky apartment complex pool with two lifeguards. When her family noticed she was missing, they said they begged the lifeguards to check the pool, but they brushed them off and closed the pool. Eventually one of them agreed to look and pulled her from the water.
Big Sandy, Tennessee, June 27 —
A 2-year-old child died after being found in a pool.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 27 —
A 7-year-old boy was reported to have died two days after being pulled from a pool.
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, June 30 —
12-year-old Pau Kahi was found dead in a campground pool the day after he went missing from his camp. Organizers reportedly cleared the pool on the day he went missing.
BrowardCounty,Florida,July2—
A 10-year-old autistic boy drowned in a neighbor’s pool where he had not been invited to visit. The homeowner discovered the boy near the pool with his panicked uncle when her son asked her why there were people in their pool.
Wallkill, New York, July 3 —
An 8-year-old child drowned in a residential pool. When police arrived, officers found the child partially submerged in the pool and an unresponsive man on the grass by the pool. The child died. The man was in critical condition Bakersfield, California, July 2 —
2-year-old Brooklyn Marie Brown died after being found unresponsive in a swimming pool.
Bakersfield, California, July 3 —
A 3-year-old boy died at the hospital after falling into a pool.
La Marque, Texas, July 4 —
A 6-year-old boy drowned at a party in the pool of a house that was being rented. In 2014, a 4-yearold girl also drowned at the same property.
Allentown, Pennsylvania, July 4 —
Aydeen Cabrera, nearly 2-yearsold, was pronounced dead at the hospital after drowning in his family’s swimming pool.
Kansas City, Missouri, July 5 —
A young girl died a week after being found unresponsive in the Oceans of Fun Water Park Pool.
Webster, Texas, July 5 —
A 3-year-old boy died 2 days after
drowning in an apartment complex pool where he was swimming with his family nearby.
Jacksonville, Florida, July 6 —
11-year-old Amariell Freeman died after she was pulled from an apartment complex swimming pool. Las Vegas, Nevada, July 6 —
A child was recovering in the intensive care unit after being found unresponsive in a pool. The child’s grandfather said it was a tragedy.
Mountainview, California, July 6 —
A 9-year-old boy drowned at an apartment complex pool.
Ovett, Mississippi, July 7 —
A 19- month- old boy was
pronounced dead after falling into the family pool.
Harris County, Texas, July 9 —
A 3-year-old child died after drowning in a home swimming pool.
Phoenix, Arizona, July 9 —
A 2-year-old girl died after drowning in a backyard pool.
Chippewa Township, Pennsylvania, July 10 —
18-month-old Graham Allgyer was found dead in a swimming pool.
Venice, Florida, July 10 —
A 2-year-old girl was airlifted to the hospital in unknown condition after she was found submerged in a home swimming pool.
Laurel, Deleware, July 11 —
A child died after falling into a pool.
