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Health officials urge safety after recent drownings
By Kim Nguyen Staff writer
With nearly 60 deaths so far in 2009, Texas is in danger of breaking the child drowning record.
Half of the total accidental child drownings this year in Texas happened in June, the deadliest month for such deaths since the state began keeping track of them in 2005.
In the last three weeks, three children died in drowning-related incidents in Collin County. All three children were 5 years old or younger.
The majority of the incidents around the state have occurred in private swimming pools or community pools, prompting local health officials to remind parents of the importance of pool safety.
“We just can’t stress enough how important it is for everyone to keep a close eye on kids around pools, especially in the summer months,” said Brittany Pollard, a health care analyst for Collin County.
Federal statistics show that children less than one year old most often drown in bathtubs, buckets or toilets, while children between the ages of 1 to 4 years drown most often in residential swimming pools. Most young children who drowned in pools were last seen in the home, had been out of sight less than five minutes, and were in the care of one or both parents at the time.
In 2008, 82 children drowned in Texas, the highest annual total. In Collin County, the medical examiner’s office logged two accidental drownings: one involved an infant in a bathtub and the other involved a child under the age of 5 in a backyard pool.
Authorities are asking the public to be vigilant around private and public pools and to review the following water safety and drowning prevention advice:
- Always supervise children closely around any body of water.
- Consider posting a “water watcher” system, with adults who know how to swim and who keep any eye out for children in and around the pool in alternating shifts.
- Never swim alone or in unsupervised places. Swim with a buddy or when a lifeguard is present.
- Use appropriate personal flotation devices according to a child’s age, weight and size. Water wings, noodles or inner tubes are toys and are not designed to keep swimmers safe.
- Enrolling the family in swimming classes is helpful, but that’s not a guarantee to prevent loved ones from drowning. Close supervision and barriers around pools are still needed even after children learn how to swim.
- Learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation. CPR skills can make a difference in the survival of an individual while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
- Install a four-sided, isolation pool fence with a self-closing and self-latching gate around home swimming pools.
- Remove toys from the pool immediately after use. This will prevent children from entering the pool to retrieve the toys.
- Lastly, if a child is missing, check the pool first; seconds count.
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