‘NOT ON MY WATCH’
Drowning injuries and fatalities are so commonplace that the stories could fill up whole news papers.
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.
Santa Rosa, Florida, November 15 —
A 1-year-old child was pronounced deceased the day after he was found unresponsive in the family’s swimming pool when he got out of the home undetected.
Miami-Dade, Florida, November 17 —
A 1-year-old child was pronounced deceased the day after he was found unresponsive in the family’s swimming pool when he got out of the home undetected.
Manatee, Florida, November 23 —
A 5-year-old child was pronounced deceased 3 years after she suffered a near-drowning event at 2 years of age, after which time she remained in a vegetative state.
Polk, Florida November 23 —
A 2-year-old child was pronounced deceased after she was found unresponsive in the family’s swimming pool when she got out of the home undetected.
Polk, Florida, December 14 —
A 2 1/ 2– year- old child was pronounced deceased after he was found unresponsive in the swimming pool when he was reported missing from the grandparent’s home.
Phoenix, Arizona, December 14 —
A 4-year-old boy was hospitalized after family members found him in the pool. Family performed CPR before officers arrived.
Its unknown how long the boy was in the water.
Phoenix, Arizona, December 14 —
A 1-year-old boy was in extremely critical condition after drowning in an apartment complex pool. Fire fighters arrived to find family performing CPR on the boy.
Ocala, Florida, December 24 —
A 5-year-old autistic boy slipped out of his hotel room where he was staying with his father and wandered outside into the pool area. The father started searching the hotel and called 911.
Officers found the boy drowned in the pool. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
