Drowning remains a leading cause of unintentional death of Southern Nevada young children. A drowning can occur in seconds and in any body of water which covers the nose and mouth including pools, bathtubs, buckets or natural bodies of water.
Fatal drownings remains the second-leading cause of death for children ages 1 14, according to the Center for Disease Control
Here are the 2011 Clark County statistics:
♦ 37 submersion incidents, 32 of which were in residential pools
♦ Five fatal drownings, four of which were children under 4 years of age
With the swimming season in full swing, I wanted to focus on the A, B, C and D’s of Drowning Prevention, taken from a collaborative brochure published by Clark County under the same title. The creators of the brochure believe that drowning is absolutely preventable by following the simple steps outlined below.
♦ A = Adult - Supervision
♦ B = Barriers - for your pool
♦ C = Classes swim lessons and CPR
♦ D = Devices - Personal Floatation Devices
With the majority of all drowning deaths occurring in the family pool, it is imperative that we all take a proactive step in prevention drowning. Here are a few more statistics to consider:
♦ It takes 10 seconds to get a towel a child can become submerged
♦ It takes 2 minutes to answer a telephone a child can lose consciousness while submerged
♦ It takes 4 6 minutes to answer the front door a child can sustain permanent brain damage or die while submerged
Whether it is your own child or a family friend, be proactive and provide constant supervision of pool related activities. Stepping away for only a few seconds can be a deadly mistake.
John Chase can be reached via his e-mail address at Jchase@bcnv.org.
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