‘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.
Speaktoparentsaboutremovingtoys 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.
Broward, Florida, February 25 —
A 6-year-old autistic child was pronounced deceased after he was found unresponsive in the swimming pool when he got out of the home undetected while he and his mother were staying at a friend’s home.
Seminole, Florida, February 25 —
A 5-year-old autistic child was pronounced deceased after he was found unresponsive in the swimming pool when he got out of the home undetected while the family was visiting from out of state.
Bath, Maine, February 27 —
An unresponsive man was pulled from a YMCA pool.
Lifeguards performed CPR until first responders arrived but the man died on the way to the hospital.
Perry, Georgia, March 1 —
A 2-year-old child was found dead in a swimming pool.
Hendry, Florida, March 4 —
A 1 1/2-year-old child was pronounced deceased 10 days after she was found unresponsive in the grandparents’ swimming pool when she got out of the home undetected.
Scottsdale, Arizona, March 13 —
A 2-year-old boy died after drowning in a neighbor’s backyard which was vacant at the time. A man walking to work heard the boy’s grandmother crying for help and the man performed CPR until paramedics arrived.
