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Phoenix police responded to a call of a child in distress after being found floating face down in a backyard pool. When officers responded to the residence near 35th Avenue and Missouri, the 2-year-old girl’s grandmother was administering CPR. The officers assumed life-saving measures until Phoenix Fire arrived and relieved them. The child was transported to a nearby hospital in extremely critical condition. The tragedy marks the 16th drowning or near-drowning pediatric incident in Phoenix this year.
As police and fire officials investigated they learned that the child was under the supervision of her grandmother and a young teen-aged aunt. The toddler was playing on the top step of the pool when her grandmother went back inside the house, leaving the teenager to watch her niece. The teen’s attention was diverted when she answered a phone call from a friend. The pool and outer perimeter of the residence does have proper fencing.
Practice safety—always!
That scenario is not unusual. In Arizona, drowning is the second most common cause of injury for children in the state. Statistics show that each year, at least one pediatric drowning in Phoenix can be attributed to a babysitter who answered the telephone or spoke with friends while a toddler slipped into the family swimming pool, toilet, bathtub, dog bowl, cleaning bucket and other common liquid-filled objects. During 2009, 17 children drowned in Maricopa County. Many near-drowning victims suffer permanent neurological impairment.
Phoenix Children’s Hospital has teamed with a number of corporate sponsors and developed a Water Watchers program that teaches the ABC’s of water safety. Simply stated, the program involves ADULT supervision, proper BARRIERs around pools, and CLASSES for CPR.
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