LOS ANGELES, CA Aug 27, 2002 According to figures just released by some of the nation's cities and counties with the highest frequency of child drowning accidents, this year is headed toward being one of the worst years on record.
"Based on the data that is now being reported, approximately 500 children will drown in backyard swimming pools this year," says Bob Lyons, president and CEO of Terrapin Communications, and inventor of the Safety Turtle(R) pool alarm. "Despite the aggressive efforts to educate the public about pool safety, we are not seeing a decline in the number of child drowning accidents. There is much work yet to be done."
To address this growing concern, pool safety will be the subject of a special program on The Oprah Winfrey Show on Sept. 5. First aired last May, response to the program "Child Dangers Every Parent Should Know About" was so great that producers decided to air it again. In the segment, actress Tracey Gold, whose son Bailey nearly drowned in her family's backyard pool, explores the fundamentals of pool safety every parent should know.
"You have to prepare for the unthinkable," said Gold, adding, "Safety essentials for families with swimming pools include having a fence that is at least five feet tall, installing self-closing and self-latching pool gates with gate alarms, having an automatic pool cover, knowing how to conduct CPR and having an effective pool alarm."
"A child drowning in a family swimming pool is a parent's worst nightmare," says Todd Appleman, president of eSafetyAlert.com, a Los Angeles-based company that markets the Safety Turtle pool alarm and other safety devices. "While a backyard swimming pool is the ultimate centerpiece for family recreation, it is also the single most hazardous zone for toddlers and young children."
"There is no replacement for active parental supervision when children are near a swimming pool," says Appleman. "But an effective pool alarm can add another 'layer of protection' just as a self-latching pool gate with an alarm creates one more barrier to protect toddlers."
According to last year's data released by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), drowning is now the second leading accidental cause of death among children between the ages of 1-14. An alarming 85 percent of these victims are between 1-4 years old. Approximately 450 children died in backyard swimming pools last year, and nearly 3,000 children were rushed to hospital emergency rooms after nearly drowning. Many of the victims escaped supervision while in the pool area. Half the near drowning accidents resulted in permanent brain damage.
"Some cities are now releasing this season's data on the number of drowning deaths and the numbers are alarming," says Appleman. "Cities that have historically been known as 'drowning hotspots' are reporting figures in line with last year, and in some cases, they are reporting even more deaths than in previous years."
Among the cities reporting mid-summer figures: Phoenix, seven deaths; Los Angeles, nine deaths; and New York City and surrounding boroughs, 13 deaths. The CDC reports the states with the highest annual drowning death rates:
States With The Most Drowning Deaths Number of Deaths --------------------------------------------------------- California 153 Texas 135 Florida 110 Georgia 60 Michigan 48 Louisiana 46 New York 45 North Carolina 39 Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Ohio 35 in each state ---------------------------------------------------------
Note: These figures are from 1999 and represent deaths due to drowning in a variety of circumstances
Safety Turtle consists of Turtle wristbands, locked securely on the wrists of one or more children, and a base station that sounds a piercing alarm the instant the Turtle enters water. For more information about the Safety Turtle pool alarm, visit www.eSafetyAlert.com and www.safetyturtle.com or call 800-892-9551.
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