DROWNINGS: A LEADING CAUSE OF CHILD DEATH
Over the weekend, the Philadelphia area was rocked by another drowning death of a child at a city pool. Seven-year-old, Jabriel O’Connor, died on Saturday after two days in critical condition following a drowning incident at the Cobbs Creek Recreation Center pool located in West Philadelphia.
Jabriel was visiting the pool with a group when he was found unresponsive at the bottom of the pool around 1 pm on Thursday, July 18, 2013. It is reported that Jabriel could not swim and was not wearing a life vest when he entered the pool. None of the four lifeguards staffing the 25+ children in the pool noticed Jabriel until it was too late. The tragic loss of Jabriel O’Connor serves as a sobering reminder of the dangers posed by pools and the serious risk of drowning faced by children.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently kicked off its fourth annual Pool Safely campaign – a national public education campaign aimed at reducing pool-related drownings, injuries, and entrapments involving children.
Pools can be very dangerous for children. There are an estimated 390 pool-related child drowning deaths and 5,100 pool-related child injuries reported annually. Over 75% of the reported pool-related-drowning incidents and injuries involve children under the age of 5 years old. Most of these deaths occur in backyard pools with 85% of the drownings occurring at residential or private pools where there are no lifeguards.
“Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death for children between the ages of 1 and 4, and minority children drown in pools at an alarming rate,” said CPSC Chairman, Inez Tenenbaum. “The lives of countless children can be saved this summer. Take simple safety steps today.” This is a very serious public health issue, and CPSC hopes to encourage parents to incorporate as many safety measures as possible to protect children from the dangers presented by pools.
Here are some tips that will help protect children from the dangers posed by pools:
- Never leave a child unsupervised in or near a pool.
- Pools should be fenced-in so that children are prevented from accessing a pool without the assistance and supervision of an adult.
- Require children to wear approved life vests whenever they are in or near a pool. Inflatable swimming aids and flotation devices are not enough.
- Remove all toys and flotation devices from a pool after use so that children are not tempted to reach for them.
- Make sure that the adult supervising children in a pool knows CPR.
- Never swim in a pool with the cover partially in place as children could become entrapped under the pool cover and drown.
- Practice “touch” supervision with all children under the age of 5 – meaning that an adult remains within an arm’s length of a child at all times while in and around a pool.
- Keep rescue equipment and a telephone by the pool in the event of an emergency.
Many parents mistakenly believe that teaching a child to swim is enough to protect children from the dangers presented by pools. Swimming lessons are important, but not a substitute for parental supervision and the safe practices listed above. For more information, parents are urged to visit www.poolsafely.gov or www.cpsc.gov.
Quinn Injury Lawyers is a law firm dedicated to the representation of victims of personal injury and wrongful death. With offices conveniently located in Philadelphia and Cherry Hill, the Quinn Law Group can assist you with all of your legal needs. Contact trial attorney and founder of the Quinn Injury Lawyers, Sean Quinn, if you or a loved one has been injured. We are Your Voice. Your Advocate.
