Children's Safety Zone

Summer is an extremely dangerous time for Arizona children around water, especially in swimming pools.

Drowning is the leading cause of death for children between 1 and 4 years old in the state, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. It’s an alarming statistic, but should be even more alarming to parents of autistic children.

“If (autistic children) are seeking sensory input from water, that’s particularly dangerous at this time of year,” said Christopher J. Smith of the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center in Phoenix.

Smith said autistic children are more likely to gravitate towards things that make them feel good, and water can be especially inviting.

Smith said the number of children diagnosed with autism is climbing rapidly.

“We went from one in roughly 100 to one in 88,” he said.

“We always operate under the assumption that there are many kids that are being missed,” he said.

Which means many parents might not realize the added danger their child could face around water, he said.

“I think it’s particularly dangerous for kids with autism because they may be less inhibited than other kids and they’ll have no problem going to seek something they’re interested in, even if it’s in a neighbor’s back yard,” Smith said.

Elisa Cazares-Hart wishes she had been aware of that potential danger sooner. Her autistic son, Eric, was just 2 when he drowned in a backyard pool.

“I told (Smith) it was an accidental drowning. He says well, unfortunately, autistic kids and adults are drawn to water.”

Cazares-Hart said that it took her a while to understand the attraction.

“For a while I didn’t really understand it because it was raining, it was cold – what attracted him?” she said.

Smith said educating parents of autistic children is key.

“If a gate is left open they can see a way into a pool, they’re probably going to go for it more so than any typically developing kid,” Smith said.

This time last year, Arizona was on a record breaking pace with child drowning cases. It is why KTAR and Fulton Homes has launched the “Two Seconds Is Too Long” campaign earlier than usual this year.

We ended 2011 with a total of 16 child fatalities. As macabre as it sounds, Lori Schmidt with Arizona Drowning Prevention Coalition and Scottsdale Fire said, “Considering we had 20 the year before, we can actually celebrate that we only had 16 last year.”

By early May six children had died in drowning accidents setting Arizona up to expect more than 30 drownings by the end of the year. “We had a very tough Spring and were very scared,” Schmidt remembered, “We want to get an early jump on water safety this year, but unfortunately, we’ve already had four children die in water this year so far.”

If you have a child in your family who cannot already swim the first line of defense is to get them into swim safety classes. “Developmentalists say start when their upright locomotive skills develop,” said Lana Whitehead, President of SwimKidsUSA in Mesa. “But, we start them a little bit younger because we want to get them in loving the water and respecting the water.”

At one of their pools on a Monday morning, seven babies are blowing bubbles, flipping over, and floating. Most are between three and 12 months. Stacy and John McRae are at the pool with their eight month old son, Troy. “We started him at three months, so he’s been coming to classes for five months now,” she said.

The couple deliberately started the program early because, “We read a lot about (swim safety) classes and heard it really helps develop motor skills.”

The infant swimming courses concentrate on both the child and the parent to build layers of protection, “Starting with a fence and a self-latching gate or pool net,” said Whitehead. She also recommends parents take CPR classes and stay current on certification. Another barrier includes what Whitehead calls a “Touch Supervision approach, which means, whenever the child is near water the parent is within an arm’s reach.”

Shasta and Brandon Bear of Mesa were taking their son, Max, to the SwimKidsUSA program when their family dog hip-checked him into the family’s jacuzzi. “It just happened in a nano second,” she said, “Thank God we were there to see it happen and we were there to pull him out in case he wasn’t able to save himself.”

Two years later, Max is now a big brother to his 13-month old sister, Avery. She’s pressing her face against the back door and whimpering to have the same freedom as her brother. There is a latch on the door, an aluminum rod high above her head, and an alarm that chimes each time the door opens.

“Shasta is a model parent,” explained Whitehead, “Who is always hands on with her children’s swim instruction and safety courses.”

When Whitehead hears the Bear family never installed a fence after Max fell in the water two years ago, she begins to worry. “No child is drown proof, no one is, not you, not me,” she said.

After 40 years teaching swim safety and studying child development, she has seen the worst happen to the best of parents. “I believe you’re a responsible parent, but you’re human, the phone rings, you get distracted.”

The Bear’s are divided on whether to put up a fence. “I think it’s unnecessary,” said Shasta, who has faith her daughter will respect the water if she does get outside alone, “Her swim instructor seems to think that she can float on her own, but she’s still vulnerable.” Brandon is literally on the fence, “The way our pool is laid out, ” he said, “to put a pool fence up, will just destroy the back yard.”

“You’re taking a chance. You’re trusting that child is going to make the same decisions when you are not there,” said Schmidt, “If you don’t have a drowning, you’re lucky. Absolutely, 100% lucky.”

Luck may be dwindling as Max deftly takes a broom stick out of the linen closet and marches over to the sliding glass door. “He released the safety latch with the broom handle and Avery was watching his every move.”

Shasta tells KTAR she is confident she can keep an eye on Avery and convinced her safety is a matter of responsible adult supervision.

“I think that (Max’s) knowing what to do, created a false sense of security that they think they’re drown proof and they’re not,” said Schmidt.

Over the past two years of record drowning calls, Schmidt has met with devastated families, “Many of them are responsible parents who tell me their child was out of sight no more than five minutes.” Under water, that tiny amount time is critical she said, “In five minutes, the organs start shutting down. At ten minutes, death is already imminent.”

Given a chance to logically think it through, Shasta and Brandon admit it’s indefensible not to have a fence when their children are still so vulnerable.

Driving her message home, Schmidt asks one last question, “Would you rather have a fence as your barrier or would you rather have police tape around your pool?”

When it comes to child drownings, most people think of a swimming pool or a bath.

But in Arizona, there is an additional danger: canals.

Earlier this month, Cisco Mesquita, 2, wandered out of his Guadalupe home, under a fence and into a canal. The young boy drowned in two feet of water.

In January, brothers Anthony, 10, and Calib Love, 6, drowned in a canal outside of Maricopa. Six-year-old Gilbert resident Brenan Thomson died April 9, 2011, when he and his brother went into a canal near their home after a bike ride.

Two weeks ago, drowning prevention experts and public safety officials gathered near the location of that tragedy to talk about the safety issues of canals and raise awareness.

“Parents need to talk about the dangers of the canals,” said Mike Connor, the Gilbert Fire Department spokesman who was at the scene in 2011 when public safety officials were called about two boys missing in Gilbert.

“We’d had a torrential downpour, the day of and day prior. The canal was at a high level and moving fast,” Connor recalled. “We don’t know exactly what happened. We know both boys ended up in the canal. Not sure if one went in and the other went in to help. We just don’t know what happened. The fire department was called. By the time we got there, a bystander was there trying to pull them out, 60 to 80 yards down from where they went in.”

Arizona has an intricate system of canals to get water to the desert. And while there are nice pathways for walking and biking around many of the canals, there are few “ﾔ if any “ﾔ barriers to keep people out of the water.

Arizona natives who grew up with the message, “Stay out of the canals,” may be able to transfer that to their own children. But the thousands of people who move to the Valley every year may be completely unaware, Connor said.

“I am a transplant here. I didn’t know anything about the canals. Our communities are not brought-up-and-raised Arizonans who have that. We have people from all over,” he said.

During the public event last week, residents told Connor they didn’t even know there was canal access in the San Tan Ranch neighborhood until Brenan’s death.

“Parents need to talk about the dangers of the canals,” said Mike Connor, the Gilbert Fire Department spokesman who was at the scene in 2011 when public safety officials were called about two boys missing in Gilbert.

PHOTO: In this April 18, 2012 photo, Gilbert fire captain Mike Connor speaks during a press conference near the site where Brenan Thomson drowned in Gilbert, Ariz. Arizona has an intricate system of canals to get water to the desert. And while there are nice pathways for walking and biking around many of the canals, there are few _ if any _ barriers to keep people out of the water. (AP Photo/East Valley Tribune, Tim HAcker) ARIZONA REPUBLIC OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT
In this April 18, 2012 photo, Gilbert fire captain Mike Connor speaks during a press conference near the site where Brenan Thomson drowned in Gilbert, Ariz. Arizona has an intricate system of canals to get water to the desert. And while there are nice pathways for walking and biking around many of the canals, there are few _ if any _ barriers to keep people out of the water. (AP Photo/East Valley Tribune, Tim HAcker) ARIZONA REPUBLIC OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Samantha Ostby, who lives in the same neighborhood as the Thomson’s, has made it her personal mission to get word out about canal safety.

She wants drowning prevention officials in the Valley to make sure and mention “canals” when talking about the other water hazards, like pools and bathtubs.

Ostby is working with the Lori Schmidt, Drowning Prevention Coalition of Arizona president and a public education officer for Scottsdale Fire Department, to help get the word out.

“We are partnering with media. We are also working with SRP to develop educational materials. We also want to reach out to all of the agencies who own canals to standardize signage and encourage safety measures,” Schmidt said.

SRP has 130 miles of canals in the Valley.

Ostby praised Schmidt’s work and SRP’s safety information on its website, adding that it’s time the public takes notice.

“We become complacent when it comes to water safety. We’ve been too naive,” she said, speaking about the issue of canals. “You can’t do better until you know better. I’m trying to get families to know better.”

Parents need not only ask themselves, “Do I have a fence around my pool?” but, “Do I live by a canal?”

“I live next door to a sidewalk that leads to a canal. For almost 10 years it never donned on me,” that it was a safety issue, she said.

Ostby’s own children are now 10 and 12, sparking another reason for her to get involved.

“I didn’t want anyone else like me to not think about something like that and have another tragedy hit another family,” she said.

Who says there’s nothing good on TV anymore? A young brother and sister used what they learned on TV to save the life of their 2-year-old cousin.

At their Phoenix home Tuesday, 11-year-old Keanu Moreno and his 9-year-old sister, Demi found their little cousin at the bottom of their pool in the backyard. The toddler was drowning.

“I dived in and I got him and I put him right on my shoulder,” Keanu said. “Then I swam to the top and put him on the floor.”

Keanu and Dime’s cousin, 2-year-old Alessandro had snuck outside an open door when no one was looking.

Laying unconscious on the ground near the pool, Alessandro’s skin had turned purple. He was not breathing and Dime said his eyes were wide-open.

“I was really scared,” Keanu said. “I thought he was dead. I really did, but I wanted him to be alive.”

“I was saying, God please help him. Please don’t let him die,” Demi recalled.

Thinking back to what they had watched on the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, Demi and Keanu jumped into action. Demi dialed 911 while big brother Keanu started CPR.

“I blew into his mouth, and then I went like this really, really hard,” Keanu said demonstrating how he performed the chest compressions on Alessandro. “He started throwing up all of that stuff.”

Keanu said he only had to do CPR for “about 10 seconds,” but because of how scared he was, “it felt like 20 minutes.”

An ambulance soon arrived and took Alessandro to the hospital where paramedics say he is doing just fine.

The children were being supervised by older teenage relatives at the time.

Ironically, Tuesday was the start of “Water Safety Day” in the Valley.

Captain Scott McDonald of the Phoenix Fire Department said the close call at the Moreno’s house was a fitting kick-off, and a reminder of the importance of keeping watch over children when there is a pool nearby.

“We have an incredible outcome to what could have been a very devastating, tragic event,” Capt. McDonald said. “Keanu and Demi did a great job.”

Water safety isn’t just a summer, warm-weather topic for Mesa Fire Capt. Paul Liddell. It’s a year-round lesson that has to be taught over and over again.

A vast majority of child drownings in Maricopa County happen in pools. But during his 16-year career with the Mesa Fire Department, Liddell said he’s also been on calls involving bathtubs and the Valley’s canal system.

Just once, Liddell said, he’d like to have a year go by without a water-related incident.

“It takes a toll on you. It would be great to go a summer without being involved in one. They’re probably one of the worst calls I’m ever going to go on,” Liddell said.

Liddell and his crew members take advantage of many settings to get the word out about the ABCs of water safety: in schools, when meeting families at the grocery store, or at community events.

The key is the “A” “ﾔ adult supervision, Liddell said.

“Adult supervision is a big deal. You just can’t leave them. We go out and talk to people. We just try to stress and reiterate nothing, not pool fences, not anything (can protect a child alone). It starts with adult supervision, someone watching the kids all the time.”

The Valley has already seen three child drownings this year, one in a Phoenix pool in early March and two in a Pinal County canal in January.

There were no barriers “ﾔ the “B” in the ABCs “ﾓ in either situation.

The barriers should include a self-latching fence, swim lessons, and keeping toys away from the pool that might entice a child to go exploring.

Then there’s the “C.” It typically stands for CPR, Liddell said. But it also stands for community involvement and education.

“It impacts all of us,” he said. “When people see it on the news or read it in the paper, they gasp, “ﾘThat could have been me. That could have been my child.’ It takes a group effort.”

Michele Long, who leads community education efforts for the Mesa Fire Department, said already this year there’s been a water-related incident in Mesa. A boy got into a pool during a family party.

“There was a party or barbecue going on and instead of having a designated water watcher, everyone assumed someone else was watching the children,” she said.

The child survived, but the incident points out the dangers, she said.

The Drowning Prevention Coalition of Arizona is pushing the “Water Smart Babies” program this year, encouraging pediatricians to talk to families with young children about the need for swimming lessons early on.

But again, Long and Liddell said, supervision is key.

“Anyone can drown at any age, but it’s a matter of using that as an additional layer of protection in case the child gets to the water,” Long said.