Children Can Drown in a Matter of Seconds

The stories are alarming.

On May 16, a 1-year-old baby drowned after crawling through a doggie door falling into the home’s pool. Nine days earlier, a 2-year-old boy drowned in his family pool in Apple Valley.

In 2009, 18-month-old Maxwell Hudson died in the backyard pool of his parent’s Redlands home.

Redlands Firefighters honor the young boy's memory in a video they created to push the point about safety. And the rallying cry has become Children Drown Without A Sound.

Drowning is one of the few causes of death that authorities say is 100 percent preventable.

And yet every year, more than 300 children 5 and under die from unintentional drowning, said officials with San Bernardino County Fire and CalFire. Although drowning rates declined, fatal drowning remains the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14 years, officials said

The risk for drowning increases dramatically when the temperatures hit triple digits and can be compounded during celebrations when adults become distracted during festivities.

“Childhood drowning and near-drowning happen in seconds often because a child is left unattended or there is a brief lapse in supervision,” Tracey Martinez said through a news release. “The majority of drowning and near-drowning occur in residential swimming pools and in open water sites.”

Children under 5 years of age do not understand the dangers of falling into water and usually do not splash or cry out for help, experts said.

Experts offer the following safety tips in an effort to keep youngsters safe:

• Install four-sided isolation fencing at least 5 feet high, equipped with self-closing and self-latching gates, around home swimming pools. Never prop open the gate to a pool barrier.
• Pool alarms and pool covers can offer an extra layer of protection. However, do not rely on them to keep your kids safe; they should be used in conjunction with fencing and constant supervision.
• Do not let children dive into water unless the child has learned proper diving techniques, an adult is present and the depth of the water is greater than 9 feet.
• Teach your child to never run, push or jump on others around water.
• Children should learn to swim. Enroll them in swimming lessons taught by qualified instructors when they are ready, usually after age 4. If you don’t know how to swim, enroll with your kids. Do not consider young children to be drown-proof because they have had swimming lessons. Children must be watched closely while swimming.
• Know which of your child’s friends and neighbors have pools.
• Keep rescue equipment, a telephone and emergency numbers by the pool.
• Instruct babysitters about potential pool hazards to young children and about the use of protective devices, such as door alarms and latches. Emphasize the need for constant supervision. Animal doors can also be an exit for a small child.
• Never leave a child unsupervised near a pool. During social gatherings at or near a pool, appoint a "designated watcher" to protect young children from pool accidents. Adults may take turns being the "watcher." When adults become preoccupied, children are at risk.
• If a child is missing, check the pool first. Seconds count in preventing death or disability. Go to the edge of the pool and scan the entire pool, bottom and surface, as well as the pool area.
• Do not allow a young child in the pool without an adult.
• Do not use flotation devices as a substitute for supervision.
• Learn CPR. Babysitters and other caretakers, such as grandparents and older siblings, should also know CPR.
• Children with marginal mobility should not be left unattended in a tub or other body of water regardless of age or presumed ability.
• Remove toys from in and around the pool when it is not in use. Toys can attract young children to the pool.
• Empty all buckets, containers and wading pools immediately after use. Store them upside-down and out of children’s reach.

For more safety tips, visit our website at www.sbcfire.org. The National Safe Kids website offers numerous facts and safety tips as well or the CAL FIRE website.