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Keeping Our Kids Safe: Inside & Out
Summer 2010
You place your children's safety at the top of your priority list.
You shopped for the safest car when you started a family. You read
up on car seats for kids and figured out which one worked best for
you and your family. You even took your car and car seat to a
seat-checking station to let an expert check and approve of your
handiwork.
But did you know there are other dangers in and
around your vehicle that could seriously harm or even kill your
child? We have identified six common dangers that even the most
careful parents can overlook, and some tips on how to avoid them.
Click Here - 6 Common Dangers
UPDATE:
Safety concerns surface after latest swimming-related lake deaths in
Central Florida
By: Stephen Hudak And Martin E. Comas | Orlando Sentinel
July 27, 2010
Three weekend deaths in Lake County lakes prompted authorities
Monday to issue water-safety reminders to boaters, swimmers and
would-be rescuers as investigators tried to determine what happened.
Lake County deputy sheriffs using sonar Monday found the body of
Andrew Ford, 18, of Webster in six feet of water in Lake Lucy near
Groveland, about 15 hours after the South Sumter High School athlete
disappeared while swimming with friends. Deputies said Ford jumped
into the lake from a small fishing boat.
Two other men apparently also drowned Saturday in Lake Harris. The
bodies of Jerry Reyes, 56, of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Richard
Cronister, 60, of Leesburg were recovered Sunday evening, more than
24 hours after they went into the lake off a pontoon boat about 4:30
p.m.
High temperatures in Central Florida topped out at 95 degrees both
Saturday and Sunday afternoons, according to the National Weather
Service, which made cooling off in lakes a tempting recreational
adventure. But potential swimmers need to think twice. "Be aware of
your [swimming] ability," said Sgt. James Vachon, spokesman for the
Lake County Sheriff's Office, which dispatched dive teams and a
marine patrol to aid searches for the victims. "Keep your life
jacket on if you're not sure."
Click Here For Article
Deputies recover body of missing boater in Groveland - Remember
to always wear a lifejackets...
By: Walter Pacheco | Orlando Sentinel
July 26, 2010
Authorities this morning found the body of a teenage boater who had
disappeared over the weekend in Lake Lucy in Groveland. Lake County
Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. James Vachon identified him as Andrew Ford,
18. A dive team from the Lake County Sheriff's Office and officials
with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission returned
to Lake Lucy sometime around 7 a.m. to begin the search for the
missing man.
Reports show Ford and two other boaters headed out to Lake Lucy on
Sunday at 5:45 p.m. Ford went swimming, but did not resurface. The
Sheriff's Office marine unit and chopper, as well as officials from
the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Groveland
public safety officials had spent hours searching the lake Sunday.
Click Here For Article
2 bodies found in Lake Harris after all-day search - Remember to
always wear a lifejackets...
By: Kate Santich and Sara K. Clarke | Orlando Sentinel
July 25, 2010
They disappeared into the water in Lake County Saturday. The bodies
of two men who vanished in Lake Harris floated to the surface Sunday
evening. Authorities had been searching earlier for Jerry Reyes, 56,
of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Richard Cronister, 60, of Leesburg.
The first body appeared about 6 p.m., the second at 7:45 p.m., said
Joy Hill, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission.
About 25 rescuers had covered about 35 square miles of the lake
Sunday in search of the men. Reyes jumped off a boat and went for a
swim Saturday afternoon, authorities said. When he began to
struggle, Cronister and Reyes' brother, Hector Reyes Jr., 53, jumped
in to save him. When he could not find the two other men, Hector
Reyes swam to shore for help.
Investigators found beer cans in the 24-foot boat, but they don't
know whether alcohol played a role in the incident.
Click Here For Article
UPDATE:
One of two toddler boys found unresponsive in pool dies
By: Anika Myers Palm | Orlando Sentinel
July 24, 2010
One of two young children found unresponsive Thursday morning in a
pool at a home in Buenaventura Lakes has drowned. Jazyn Emmanuel
Gomez, 2, was removed from life support and died Friday at Arnold
Palmer Hospital, said his father, Ashton Gomez. The family will make
funeral arrangements Sunday, Gomez said. The other child, also 2, is
still on a ventilator and in critical condition at Florida Hospital
South.
A woman who had been watching the boys at the home in the 100 block
of Guaymas Drive told deputy sheriffs that she had walked away from
them for about five minutes. When she returned, the boys were in the
pool, unresponsive. The woman is the mother of the boy on the
ventilator.
Click Here For Article
Toddlers in critical condition after near-drowning in Osceola
By: Anika Myers Palm | Orlando Sentinel
July 22, 2010
A pair of 2-year-old boys is in critical condition after they nearly
drowned in a pool at a Buenaventura Lakes home this morning. The
woman who had been watching the boys, one of whom is her son, told
Osceola sheriff's deputies about 11:36 a.m. that she walked away
from them for about five minutes and returned to find them
unresponsive in the pool. The other boy is the child of a friend,
the woman told deputies.
Upon responding to the home in the 100 block of Guaymas Drive,
deputies gave cardiopulmonary resuscitation to the boys. A teenager
who was in the house did not see what happened, according to the
sheriff's office.
One child was taken to Florida Hospital in Kissimmee and the other
to Osceola Regional Medical Center. When they arrived at those
facilities, one of the boys was airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital
and the other boy was taken to Florida Hospital South.
Click Here For Article
Orange rescue crews respond to two near-drownings
By: Amy L. Edwards | Orlando Sentinel
July 12, 2010
Orange County rescue crews responded to two separate near-drownings
today, one day after an 11-month-old drowned in a swimming pool. The
first 911 call today came shortly before 1:30 p.m., when crews
responded to a call of a 3-year-old girl found in a pool at the
Stonebridge Landing apartments on Fort Desoto Road. The child, whose
identity was not released, was transported to Arnold Palmer
Hospital. Her condition is unknown.
The second near-drowning call for Orange County rescue crews came
about an hour later. That call involved a woman, also not identified
publicly, who was removed from a pool at the Lakeshore Landings
Mobile Home Park on Cayuga Drive. The woman was transported to
Orlando Regional Medical Center. Her condition is unknown. On
Sunday, a baby fell into a pool at a home on the 3600 block of East
Kaley Street. He was transported to a hospital, where he was
pronounced dead.
Click Here For Article
Toddler drowns in home pool in Orange County
By: Victor Manuel Ramos | Orlando Sentinel
July 11, 2010
A toddler drowned Sunday after falling into the swimming pool at an
east Orlando home, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said. The
11-month-old boy, whose name was not released, was taken to a
hospital after deputy sheriffs and paramedics responded to the
emergency call in the 3600 block of East Kaley Street. He was
pronounced dead at the hospital.
A neighbor said she saw from her driveway as paramedics rushed out
of the house, where she said the same family has lived for more than
five years. She said they carried out the unconscious child, put him
in an ambulance and tried to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
"I saw … his father coming out and just saying 'Please save my baby,
please save my baby,' " said Ann Heaney, who lives on the same
block. "It's horrible and sad, and I know that I am going to have
terrible nightmares about this. I am very sorry this happened to
them."
Click Here For Article
Deltona boy, 3, saved from drowning
By: Julie Murphy | The Daytona Beach News Journal
May 28, 2010
A Deltona man and paramedics saved a 3-year-old boy from drowning
Thursday afternoon, officials said. The unidentified boy's mother
was talking to the man and another woman at his home in the 2200
block of Austin Avenue shortly before 3 p.m. when they realized the
boy wandered off, according to the Deltona Fire Department.
The two women walked into the backyard, heard screams and found the
child in the pool, a report states. The homeowner performed CPR for
less than a minute when firefighters arrived.
Paramedics from the Fire Department and EVAC ambulance treated the
boy and took him to Florida Hospital Fish Memorial, Orange City,
officials said. He was "breathing and crying" by the time he was
wheeled into the emergency room. He was then airlifted to Florida
Hospital South, Apopka. Names and the boy's condition were not
available Thursday night.
Click Here For Article
VGB Public Education Campaign Launches
By: Dan Schechner | Independent Pool & Spa Service
Association
May 27, 2010
A pair of U.S. Olympic medalists helped kick off the national
campaign aimed at promoting pool and spa safety. Launched May 24 at
the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,
the sweeping educational effort, ushered in by swimming champions
Janet Evans and Jason Lezak, is a major component of the federal
Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, which took effect
December 2008.
The campaign is being spearheaded by the Consumer Product Safety
Commission in conjunction with nearly two-dozen participating
organizations, including the Association of Pool & Spa
Professionals, the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, the
National Swimming Pool Foundation and PR partner Widmeyer
Communications.
“This will be effective because it is such a broad campaign, not
just a short-term effort by one or two groups,” said Kathleen
Reilly, CSPC’s public affairs specialist. “It’s nationwide, and
nearly every organization involved in pool and spa safety will be
taking part.”
Joining the Olympic athletes for the official launch were Nancy
Baker, whose daughter was the inspiration for the law, and Rep.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who authored the act and sponsored
it in the House of Representatives. The announcement also coincided
with CPSC’s release of its annual reports on children’s entrapment
and submersion incidents.
Click Here For Article
Pool Pumps May Grab Big Label, Rebates
By: Rebecca Robledo | Independent Pool & Spa Service
Association
May 27, 2010
Two national organizations that influence energy efficiency programs
around the country have taken an interest in pool pumps. The
Environmental Protection Agency has put pool pumps on its list of
equipment as a candidate for an Energy Star designation.
An Energy Star symbol could significantly reinforce the market for
variable- and two-speed pumps, said Michael Orr, executive director
of business development at the Foundation for Pool & Spa Industry
Education in Sacramento, Calif.
“[Energy Star] has a good reputation, so that will carry through,
and customers won’t have that resistance to participating in it,”
Orr said. “If you come out with an all-new program that nobody
knows, then it’s an uphill battle to get it recognized.”
Currently, much of EPA’s financial resources are being used to
refresh long-standing programs, and the agency is only in the
preliminary stages with pool pumps, said EPA spokeswoman Katharine
Kaplan. “Then, if resources allow, we will move on these products we
scoped out and that looked attractive to us,” she said. “Included in
that category are pool pumps.”
Click Here For Article
IPSSA Breaks New Ground
By: Ben Thomas | Independent Pool & Spa Service
Association
May 27, 2010
The Independent Pool & Spa Service Association is expanding into
Oklahoma. Slated to become official in mid-June, the Oklahoma City
Chapter will mark IPSSA’s second foray into a new state this year.
“The more places we get into, the more we can make IPSSA a
recognizable name,” said Lane Clark, chairman of IPSSA’s Expansion
Committee. “We’re trying to promote professionalism in the industry.
That’s what we’ve always done.”
This February, IPSSA opened a chapter in Cumming, Ga., approximately
40 miles north of Atlanta. A chapter serving the Atlanta metro area
is expected to launch later this year. The organization’s Region 11,
composed mostly of Florida chapters, also hopes to expand its
130-member ranks over the next few months.
Click Here For Article
Hazards: Report on Sanitation at Swimming Pools
By: Roni Caryn Rabin | The New York Times
May 24, 2010
One in eight public swimming pools inspected in 2008 were closed
immediately because of serious health code violations, according to
a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pools at child care facilities were the most likely to be shut down,
with almost one in five closed immediately; the rate at hotels,
motels and apartment complexes was one in seven.
But it was kiddie wading pools and bathing fountains that had the
highest rate of violations, indicating inappropriate disinfectant
and pH levels in the water that could lead to transmission of germs
that cause gastroenteritis.
C.D.C. researchers analyzed data from more than 110,000 routine pool
inspections drawn from a sample of 15 counties and states. Of
111,487 inspections, 13,532, or 12.1 percent, identified serious
violations that led to immediate shutdowns.
Click Here For Article
Swimming Lessons OK for Toddlers, Experts Say
By: Staff Writer | Business Week
May 24, 2010
MONDAY, May 24 (HealthDay News) -- The American Academy of
Pediatrics has issued new guidelines on drowning prevention in
children, taking into account the risks from popular inflatable
pools and new evidence that safety instruction may be helpful for
toddlers.
In a change from previous guidelines, the AAP no longer recommends
against swimming lessons for kids aged 1 to 3 years because there's
new evidence that instruction may help some young children avoid
drowning.
Drowning is the second leading cause of death for children aged 1 to
19 years, and about 1,100 children died of drowning in the United
States in 2006. Toddlers and teen-aged boys are at highest risk.
"Not every child will be ready to learn to swim at the same age,"
said Dr. Jeffrey Weiss, lead author of a policy statement that was
released online May 24 and will be published in the July issue of
the journal Pediatrics. "Swimming lessons can be an important part
of the overall protection, which should include pool barriers and
constant, capable supervision."
Click Here For Article
Rescue officials: Child drowns at Orange County resort
By: Anthony Colarossi | Orlando Sentinel
May 24, 2010
A child drowned at an Orange County resort late Monday, according to
officials with Orange-County Fire Rescue.
Firefighters responded to a "pediatric drowning" at 10000 Turkey
Lake Road at about 5:17 p.m. Monday, according to a statement put
out by Lt. Anthony Rios with Orange County Fire Rescue. That is the
address for the Westgate Lakes Resort & Spa. Few details were
available on the drowning late Monday. Officials at the resort said
they were not commenting late Monday.
"This incident is an all too familiar reminder of how quickly an
infant or child can become the victim [of] an accidental drowning,"
Rios said. "Orange County Firefighters want to remind everyone that
the levels of safety include adult supervision, layers of barriers
and knowledge of CPR."
Click Here For Article
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