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RECENT NEWS
Study Confirms Minority Drowning Danger
By: Kendra Kozen | Aquatics International
USA Swimming study offers first objective data on the issue. By
Kendra Kozen -- More than half of all black and Hispanic
children are “at-risk” swimmers, according to a recent study by the
University of Memphis, which confirms statistical data first
reported several years ago in Aquatics International. Commissioned
by USA Swimming as part of its national Make a Splash program’s
anti-drowning initiative, the research has produced some of the
first objective data on the effect of ethnicity on drowning risk.
Findings indicate that 31 percent of white respondents are low
ability at-risk swimmers, compared with 58 percent of
African-American respondents and 56 percent of Hispanic/Latino
respondents.
These findings are consistent with a 2005 Aquatics International
investigation, which revealed that minority children are
statistically three times more likely to drown than whites.
The project included nearly 1,800 youngsters, divided by age into
children (ages 6-11) and adolescent (ages 12-16) groups. Data was
collected last year at six metropolitan area YMCAs via surveys and
site visits. Two- thirds of respondents identified as Hispanic or
black, and the majority came from low-income families; more than
half reported being on a free or reduced cost school lunch program.
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16-Month-Old Found in Pool Friday Dies
By: Sara K. Clarke | Sentinel Staff Writer
August 18, 2008
A toddler who was airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital on Friday
after nearly drowning in a swimming pool has died, Palm Bay police
said Sunday morning. Sixteen-month-old Haley Rowland was not
breathing when family members found her in the pool Friday
afternoon, police said. Paramedics could not find a pulse, but
doctors at a Melbourne hospital were able to stabilize the toddler
and airlift her to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando,
where she died. Police said the toddler's parents had left Haley and
her siblings with their grandparents, who told the children to keep
the door leading to the pool locked. At some point, one of the
children opened the rear door, and the toddler found her way into
the pool. Police said Haley might have been in the water for at
least five minutes. The Florida Department of Children and Families
has been notified.
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New Anti-Drowning Tech Designed To Save Children
By: Local 6 News Staff Writer
July 25, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. -- New technology is being tested in Florida to help
stop home pool drownings -- the leading cause of accidental death
for children under age 5.
The Swim Alert sensing alarm detects underwater immersion rather
than surfaces disturbances. It has been successful in Europe and was
recently tested and approved by Good Housekeeping.
Local 6 reported that the system avoids false alarms and resets
after a disturbance is detected. The alarm sounds in six seconds or
less. The standard is 20 seconds. The detection technology is
designed for private pools and for saving children.
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Deputies Honored for Rescue Efforts
By: Mark Pino | Sentinel Staff Writer
July 10, 2008
OSCEOLA COUNTY - Four deputies were have been honored by Sheriff Bob
Hansell with the office's Life Saving Award.
*Deputies Dennis Smith and Don Vitali received the award for helping
prevent the drowning of a 14-month-old child. In January, when the
pair saw a child lying on the pool deck, they checked for breathing
and a pulse, with negative results. Smith began rescue breathing,
and Vitali performed chest compressions. They continued for about
six minutes until the arrival of emergency workers. Although the
original prognosis was poor, the child was eventually released from
the hospital and is improving.
*Deputies Bryan MacMahon and Ken Wilson received the award after
responding to a medical call in February. The deputies saw a man on
the floor who was cold and hardly breathing. MacMahon started rescue
breathing, and Wilson performed chest compressions until emergency
workers arrived. The man was taken to the hospital and later
released in good health.
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Baby found floating in bath tub dies
By: Walter Pacheco | Sentinel Staff Writer
July 9, 2008
A 20-month-old child found floating in a bath tub Tuesday died
overnight, an Orange County spokesman confirmed this morning.
Rescue crews rushed the infant to Florida Hospital South and it is
unclear if he died during transport or after he arrived at the
hospital. Orange County Sheriff's Office reports show that deputies
received a call of a near drowning at the Inn Town Suites, located
at 736 Lee Road, shortly after 11:44 p.m.
In a press release from the agency, Cmdr. J. Todd Gardiner wrote
that the child's mother had placed the infant in a bath tub full of
water and left him alone while she attended to her other child. When
she returned a few minutes later, "the mother found the child
floating and unresponsive in the bath tub." The drowning is under
investigation and charges have not been filed.
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Health Officials Warn Of Amoeba Dangers | Swimmers Urged To Avoid
Warm Lakes
By: WESH Staff Writer
July 2, 2008
SANFORD, Fla. -- Central Florida's lakes will prove to be a popular
hangout over the long holiday weekend, but health officials are
issuing an alert to swimmers.
The Orange County Health Department issued the alert to warn
citizens of the risk of infection from amoeba. The amoeba is an
organism that lives in fresh water, including lakes, springs, pools
with low amounts of chlorine. They thrive in water temperatures of
80 degrees or warmer. The organism can travel up a swimmer's nose
into the brain and spinal cord. While infections are rare, health
officials said they can be fatal.
In 2007, Will Sellars, Richard Almeida, and Angel Arroyo, three
Central Florida children, died from amoeba-related encephalitis.
Swimmers can protect themselves by avoiding warm, stagnant water and
by wearing nose plugs.
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Push is on to make more black children good swimmers
By: Jeff Kunerth | Sentinel Staff Writer
June 7, 2008
Eight-year-old Shaynice Brown took her first swimming lesson in
April. Today, she starts her second series of lessons at the
Pine Hills YMCA pool.
"I think it's very necessary for her to know how to swim," said her
mother, Venice Brown. "It should be something every child
should know how to do, especially in Florida. You hear of so
many kids drowning. "
A recent study found that 58 percent of black children do not know
how to swim, and are three times more likely to drown than other
kids, according to USA Swimming, an organization for competitive
swimmers.
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Five-year-old Drowns in Family Pool
By: Tanya Caldwell | Sentinel Staff Writer
May 31, 2008
A five-year-old girl in Lake Alfred accidentally drowned in the
family pool today as her mother and stepfather grilled food nearby,
the Polk County Sheriff's Office reported tonight.
The girl, Dashanti Howell, was playing in the above-ground pool in
the family's backyard when she began to struggle, said Carrie
Rodgers of the Sheriff's Office. Her 6-year-old sister told the
parents -- mother Essie Weaver and stepfather Theapolis Island --
who pulled her from the pool, began CPR and called 911 around 6:40
p.m. today. Dashanti was taken to Winter Haven Hospital, where she
was pronounced dead.
Officials are still investigating the case but say that Dashanti's
death appears to be an accidental drowning. Officials are expected
to perform an autopsy of the child's body.
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Pool and Spa Submersion: Estimated Injuries and Reported Fatalities
2008 Report
By: Staff Writer | U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission
May 2008
This report contains information on pool and spa1
submersion2 injury and fatality incidents of children
less than five years of age. In previous years, we reported numbers
for pools only. This year we are reporting on both pools only and
pools and spas. Pool numbers are reported separately where
applicable to maintain linkage with previous memoranda. Please note
that reported injuries and fatalities associated with
circulation/suction entrapments in pools and spas are presented in a
separate memorandum3.
Annual estimates and an average annual estimate of the number of
emergency department-treated submersion injuries are presented for
2005 – 2007. This is followed by a count of fatalities reported to
CPSC staff for submersions for 2003 – 2005. Injury and fatality
years differ as a result of the lag in reporting fatalities.
Appendix A discusses terminology and the methods used to extract the
data.
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Lawmakers, Crist Must Plug Holes In Pool Safety Requirements
By: Staff Writer | Tampa Tribune
April 21, 2008
Florida, once a national leader on pool safety, has jettisoned rules
that would help prevent youngsters from being trapped by pool
drains. Drowning deaths are a certainty if lawmakers don't
intervene.
Last year, the Florida Building Commission - at the behest of the
pool and spa building industry - quietly dropped requirements that
residential pools be built with automatic anti-entrapment devices
that are triggered when a swimmer becomes trapped on a powerful
drain.
Contrast the panel's spineless stand to that of the International
Building Code Council and the International Residential Code Council
- two organizations that set the gold standard for safety and
building regulations. They unanimously rejected the pool and spa
industry's efforts to remove the anti-entrapment device requirements
from guidelines.
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Water Safety Stressed as Summer Nears
By: Patricia Steele | DAILY SUN
April 21, 2008
Sumter County — Constant adult supervision for children in and
around water can reduce the number of drowning deaths each year in
Florida.
The State Department of Health Drowning Prevention Awareness
Campaign aims to prevent water-related injuries and deaths this
summer through public education and awareness. “In 2005-2006 there
were three drowning deaths in Sumter County,” said environmental
health director Keith Hunter. “That’s proportionately higher than
many of the larger counties.”
According to the latest compiled statistics, Sumter County has
25,000 residential pools in The Villages and approximately 1,500
residential pools in the rest of the county. “That’s a small number
compared to, say, Broward County, which would have 120,000
residential pools,” Hunter said. “And figures show Broward recorded
12 pool drownings in the 2005-2006 period.”
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New Drowning Task Force Hopes to Educate Adults
By: Gary White | TheLedger.com
April 15, 2008
Visitors to the Lakeland home of Richard and Lori DeAngelis might
assume an incompetent builder installed the glass doors opening onto
their pool patio. The doors' handles and dead-bolts occupy unusual
positions, with the handles about eye level for an adult and the
dead-bolt locks lower.
It isn't a mistake. That's the way Lori DeAngelis wanted it. The
design might be aesthetically incorrect, but if it reduces the risk
of a child's drowning in the swimming pool then the mother of two
young children can live with visual oddity.
DeAngelis is co-chairperson of the Polk County Drowning Prevention
Task Force, a coalition of local agencies, including - Citizen CPR,
a non-profit organization for which she is a board member. The task
force was created last summer in response to several drowning deaths
of children in Polk County, said Susan Barham, the group's
chairwoman.
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Scholarships Help Children in Osceola County Learn to Swim
Amy C. Rippel | Special To The Sentinel
April 13, 2008
Osceola's water-safety campaign features a scholarship named for a
3-year-old Kissimmee drowning victim. Two years ago, Alyssa Parker,
3, drowned in her family's backyard swimming pool in Kissimmee. Her
parents had lost track of her for just minutes before she was found
in the pool.
Today, Alyssa's family is hoping the lessons they learned from her
death will help save other children from drowning. As warmer weather
arrives, the Osceola County Health Department and the Community
Coalition of Osceola Water Safety have teamed up to try to reduce
drownings.
Beginning this month, which is Swimming Pool Safety Month, the two
groups will put on several drowning-prevention programs and events.
The "Keep Your Eyes on the Kids" water-safety campaign will include
reduced-cost cardiopulmonary-resuscitation lessons, school lessons
and fun days at community pools through June.
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Recognizing April 2008 as "Swimming Pool Safety Month"
The Florida Senate
April 1, 2008
A resolution recognizing April 2008 as "Swimming Pool 3 Safety
Month." 4 5
WHEREAS, the State of Florida has more than one million 6 swimming
pools, over 37,000 of which are public facilities 7 regulated by the
Department of Health, and 8
WHEREAS, residential and commercial swimming pools and spas 9 add to
the enjoyment, quality of life, and health of the state's 10
residents and visitors, and 11
WHEREAS, swimming pools and spas are recreational facilities 12
promoting the social gathering of families and friends in a large 13
percentage of Florida residences, and 14
WHEREAS, Florida hotels and condominiums have thousands of 15
swimming pools, spas, and wading pools used by even more visitors 16
and guests, and 17
WHEREAS, the education of building code and health 18 department
officials, swimming pool designers and contractors, 19 and pool
owners is paramount to ensuring pool safety, and
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Florida Rescuers Free Boy from Grip of Pool Vacuum Line
Naples Daily News | Staff Writer
April 1, 2008
An afternoon in a Naples swimming pool nearly turned tragic over the
weekend after a toddler got his right arm stuck inside a pool vacuum
line. The 2-year-old boy's nanny held him above water while
firefighters and paramedics drained the pool and worked for over two
hours to dislodge his arm from the pump.
About 12:15 p.m. on Saturday, Naples firefighters and paramedics
were called to 3275 Rum Row in Port Royal in response to a call of a
child who had fallen and hit his head, said Battalion Chief Pete
DiMaria of the Naples Police Emergency Services Department. Instead,
when the first units arrived, they found the 2-year-old, whose name
was not released, in a wading pool with his right arm stuck in the
vacuum line, DiMaria said. The boy's nanny was holding him above the
waterline.
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TESTIMONIALS
Mom Pulls Tot From Pool In Nick Of Time
By: CBS Staff Writer
July 18, 2008
(CBS) A mother suddenly found herself in a race against time to save
her drowning daughter -- and she succeeded. Patsy Schmidt-Cozier's
daughter, Rose Cozier, 4, was under water in a backyard pool, her
arm stuck in the suction drain.
Patsy yanked and yanked, and eventually got Rose out -- then
performed CPR. She even called 911 herself!
"Rose is doing very well," Patsy told The Early Show co-anchor Julie
Chen from Miami Children's Hospital Friday, little Rose in bed at
her side. " ... She's in high spirits. And thank God she's here with
us, after such a terrible moment."
Patsy says it all happened during a pool party. She was helping
another child in the water when she realized Rose "was -- her body
was against the wall of the pool., and she was totally under the
water, and kind of looking at me as if asking for help.
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Rip Currents Keep Lifeguards Busy
Last Edited: Monday, 28 May 2007, 10:00 PM EDT
Created: Monday, 28 May 2007, 9:11 AM EDT
In Volusia County, lifeguards saved two teens from drowning.
A Volusia County Beach Patrol spokesman says lifeguards pulled more
than 150 people out of the ocean over the long Memorial Day weekend.
Mom Saves Son From Drowning
POSTED: 5:45 pm EDT May 25, 2007
Seminole County, FL -- One drowning and another
near-drowning within six hours of each other had Seminole County sheriff's
deputies pleading with parents to watch their children.
Friday afternoon, four-and-a-half-year-old Jade Hutagalong was
all giggles and smiles with his mom Nadia. But there was a moment Thursday
at a friend’s pool party when Nadia stared into the water and wondered
if she'd ever see her son's smile again.
“I see him in the water floating, I didn't think twice, I just
jumped in the pool and pulled him out,” said Nadia.
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