‘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.
Osceola County, Florida, July 25 —
A 4 1/ 2– year- old child was pronounced deceased after she was found at the bottom of the swimming pool where she and a group of children were swimming at the Airbnb where the family was vacationing from another state.
Griffith, Indiana, July 26 —
5-year-old Dante Rivers died four days after he was discovered in a backyard pool. He had wandered away from home.
Marion County, Florida, July 28 —
A 1 1/ 2– year- old child was pronounced deceased 38 days after she was discovered unresponsive in her grandmother’s swimming pool where she was swimming with several other children.
Phoenix, Arizona, July 30 —
3-year-old Prince Cox drowned in a short-term rental home’s swimming pool, which had no fence around it, as is required by law.
Lee County, Florida, August 1 —
A nearly 1-year-old child (1 week from turning 1) was pronounced deceased after she was found unresponsiveinthebackyardpoolwhen she got out of the home undetected.
Hastings, Nebraska, August 4 —
A 13-year-old Japanese girl in an exchange program died four days after being pulled by lifeguards from a swimming pool.
Bellmawr, New Jersey, August 4 —
Two toddlers drowned in a swimming pool. No other relevant details were made available.
Rye, New York, August 5 —
A 5-year-old boy died four days after being pulled from the Playland pool.
Pawtucket, Rhode Island, August 7 —
A 9-year-old autistic boy who had been reported missing was in intensive care after he was discovered by police floating in a nearby pool.
