‘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.
Scottsdale, Arizona, August 1 —
A 4-year-old boy drowned in the unfenced pool of a short-term rental his parents had checked into that day.
San Bernardino, California, August 9 —
A 5-year-old boy died at the hospital after his parent rescued him from a backyard pool.
Seminole County, Florida, August 9 —
A 3-year-old child was pronounced deceased after she was found unresponsive in the swimming pool when she got out of the home undetected while be watched by her 13-year-old sibling.
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, August 10 —
11-year-old Michael Hudziak died of drowning while attending a birthday pool party. A family member said he was a strong swimmer.
Buena Vista, New Jersey, August 11 —
A 3-year-old died after falling in a backyard pool.
Laredo, Texas, August 11 —
A 3-year-old girl was in critical condition after she was discovered in a home pool.
Manteca, California, August 12 —
A 4-year-old boy drowned in a backyard pool. The boy’s mother and brother were home but did not know he had gone near the pool.
Toledo, Ohio, August 12 —
11-year-old Donte Toney Jr (who could not swim) died days after drowning in the Roosevelt Pool, where he had hopped the fence while the pool was not open. His 9-year-old cousin was with him at the time and ran to get help.
Blair County, Pennsylvania, August 12 —
A 4-year-old boy died of drowning in his neighbor’s pool after bypassing their lock system. The neighbors found his body.
San Diego, California, August 14 —
A 2-year-old drowned in his grandparent’s newly built pool after escaping the notice of 3 adults and 3 other children.
South Farmingdale, New York, August 16 —
A 1-year-old boy died of drowning in a home swimming pool.
Mesquite, Texas, August 17 —
A 4-year-old found drowning in a swimming pool was in critical condition.
Greenville, South Carolina, August 17 —
3-year-old Joseph Pedro Ignacio who had been reported missing was found by officers submerged in a pool. He did not survive.
Nebo, Kentucky, August 18 —
A 3-year-old died after drowning in a pool.
Fort Worth, Texas, August 20 —
6-year-old Andrew Skinner drowned in a residential swimming pool when he got through the dog
door at a house he was visiting. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Plymouth, Connecticut, August 20 —
A 2-year-old boy died after he drowned in an aboveground pool.
Toms River, New Jersey, August 21 —
A3-year-old drowned in a backyard pool.
Pflugerville, Texas, August 24 —
A child died at the hospital after being recovered from an apartment complex pool. Officers arrived to find a bystander performing life-saving measures.
What can we learn from reading this? Do these drownings have anything in common?
This issue seems to have many drownings resulting from lack of supervision.
When you visit your homeowner client’s house to service their pool, perhaps you might leave a note with the National Drowning Prevention Alliance’s toolkit? https://www.ndpa.org/host-toolkit. Drowning prevention starts with awareness and you can help make pool owners aware about how to prevent drowning.
