Children's Safety Zone

With the weather heating up and summer around the corner, local public-safety departments and organizations are kicking off various events around the Southeast Valley to reinforce pool safety in the minds of children and adults.

This year those campaigns take on a greater urgency because 2010 saw child drownings continuing a steady five-year increase Valley-wide. Ten children drowned in Maricopa County in 2006, and that number doubled last year.

The Southeast Valley has not been immune to those tragedies. Since 2000, there have been 68 water-related incidents involving children in Gilbert, including nine deaths. In Mesa, there have been 155 incidents and 33 deaths. In Chandler there have been 55 incidents and six deaths.

That slight uptick can be attributed in part to the economy, said Tiffaney Isaacson, water-safety coordinator at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

With less money to spend, parents may not be able to fix a broken lock or pool gate right away, kids may be left home alone because of child-care costs and parents may be less attentive after working a second job, she said.

“Parents need to know that there are things you can do to protect your children in any economy,” she said.

That’s where the campaigns come in.

Although some are aimed at making parents more aware of what they can and should do to protect their children around pools, others are geared toward swimming and pool-safety lessons for babies and young kids.

In the past decade, education has been centered on layers of protection: watching children, having a fence, taking swimming lessons and knowing CPR.

On Tuesday, about 1,140 first-graders from four schools in Chandler, three in Gilbert and Mesa and two in Ahwatukee will participate in the 12th annual Water Safety Day at Chandler-Gilbert Community College, hosted by the Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s Water Watchers program.

The students will split into groups to watch a puppet show and a performance by a singing firefighter, make crafts, play carnival games and see firefighters, fire trucks and equipment from a dozen cities.

Druann Letter, a teacher at Kyrene de Cielo in Chandler, founded Water Watchers after her son Weston drowned in 1998 in the family swimming pool. He was almost 4.

“I was a very, very safety-conscious parent and I just thought it could never happen to me, and I think the majority of people we meet think the same thing,” Letter said.

There were reasons Letter thought Weston was safe: The child took swimming lessons. His father Tom is a firefighter and knew CPR. Weston always wore a life vest when they went to the lake.

A week after his death, Letter saw a news report of two toddler brothers who drowned, and she decided it was time to do something to educate children on water safety.

Now first-graders learn about water safety through a curriculum written by Letter, her fellow teachers at Cielo Elementary and Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Students complete six lessonson basic water safety, usually three before Water Safety Day and three after.

“The event’s really a reinforcement of the concepts they’ve already learned,” Isaacson said.

Meanwhile, Fulton Homes’ 11th annual “2 Seconds is Too Long” Water Safety Dayis April 2 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Kiwanis Park, Mill Avenue and All-America Way in Tempe. The carnival-themed event includes safety presentations, educational videos and demonstrations.

Free 20-minute private swimming lessons will also be available for babies and children of all ages from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. April 16 at Gold Medal Swim School, 6909 W. Ray Road, Suite 27, in Chandler. Call 480-961-7946 to register and book a time.

Families who show financial need with children under 6 who own their home and can’t afford a pool fence can call 602-631-4843 for an application.

PHOENIX – A 1-year-old boy is in very critical condition after being pulled from a Phoenix pool Tuesday afternoon.

Phoenix Fire Department spokeswoman Michelle Miller said fire crews responded to the area of Indian School Road and 59th Avenue for a report of a possible drowning.

Scott Walker with the Phoenix Fire Department said there were several people at the home when the boy somehow got out to the pool. Officials tell ABC15 it could have been anywhere from five to 15 minutes before he was discovered floating on the surface of the pool.

There are no secondary locks on the doors and no fence around the pool, according to Walker.

When fire crews responded to the scene, the boy was reportedly out of the water, but was not breathing.

“When we arrived, he had no pulse, he was blue in color. Basically his body was dead at that point,” Walker explained.

The boy was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital where personnel were reportedly able to get a pulse. The child continues to be in very critical condition, however.

“The latest word I have is the child is in very serious condition,” said Walker. “The prognosis I have does not look good at this point. We are hoping for the best, but it’s a very serious situation.”

It is not clear how long he was in the water.

Area residents tell ABC15 they were saddened to hear their youngest neighbor is now fighting for his life.

“That hurts. It’s a baby, it’s a child,” said neighbor Barry Gomez. “The pool is something that you need to always watch, especially if you have children.”

There is an investigation to see what exactly happened.

A 1-year-old boy was flown to a Valley hospital Tuesday after he was pulled from a Buckeye pool.

The child fell into a pool at a home on the 19000 block of West Virginia Avenue, said Sgt. Jesse Spurgin, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Sherriff’s Office.

He was pulled from the pool and CPR was initiated, he said.

When officers arrived shortly before noon, the boy was breathing and crying, Spurgin said.

The toddler was flown to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Buckeye Fire Department Chief Bob Costello said.

His condition is unknown.

ORO VALLEY – The Oro Valley community is mourning the death of a young child after the first drowning of the year.

A 3-year old boy was found in a neighbor’s swimming pool in the 11000 block of Old Ram Court. He was reported missing, Wednesday afternoon. During the search, an Oro Valley police officer found him at the bottom of the neighbor’s pool. The officer attempted CPR, but it was too late.

We spoke with one of the victim’s family members, but with tears in her eyes, she said she had nothing to say and rushed back inside her home.

The family isn’t the only ones affected by this; the entire neighborhood is still shaken by the tragic news.

Wayne Boyd lives in the neighborhood. He said, “Kids playing around here all the time. You see them all the time so it’s shocking. It really is.”

And the neighbors aren’t alone in that feeling. Even first responders were caught off guard.

Anne-Marie Braswell with Safe Kids Tucson Coalition and Rural Metro Fire said, “It’s just not anything that we were ready to even think about because the weather is still cool.”

Cool or not, it happened. Now it’s turned into a tragic reminder of the importance of pool safety and watching over your kids.

Braswell said, “It’s one of those things in Southern Arizona we need to think about year round. When January comes around we need to make our new years resolution to keep our children safe, be a designated water watcher and remember the A,B,C’s of water safety and to talk to all of our children.”

Something this neighborhood hopes to do better in the future, all while mourning the loss of one of its youngest residents.

Boyd said, “To hear that something like that happen here, it kind of hits home. It’s personal. To me it is anyway.”

The incident is still under investigation and police said they’re not ready to release the name or information about how the boy got into the neighbor’s back yard. They’re also not commenting on the possibility of criminal negligence charges being filed but we’ll keep you posted.

A Lake Havasu City toddler was airlifted to a Las Vegas hospital Saturday after he reportedly fell into a backyard pool and wasn’t breathing when found.

Emergency responders were called about 1:32 p.m. Saturday to render aid to Aiden Cooper, 3, at a residence in the 3500 block of Fiesta Drive, said Lake Havasu City Sgt. Joe Harrold.

Emergency responders en route to the residence were advised cardiopulmonary resuscitation was in progress on the child, said Rick Felish, Battalion Chief, Lake Havasu City Fire Department.

A nearby Lake Havasu City police officer also was dispatched to the scene to assist the fire department’s response to the call.

“The father of the 3-year-old was performing CPR when the officer arrived,” Harrold said. “And the child began breathing on his own just as the officer got to him.”

Harrold said it’s standard protocol for a Havasu police officer to respond to incidents involving individuals who aren’t breathing.

The child was transported to Havasu Regional Medical Center by River Medical ambulance service. The boy was soon transferred by Careflight medical helicopter to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas, Felish said.

Lake Havasu City Fire Department responded with eight firefighters aboard Engine 4 and Engine 2. The Battalion Chief on-duty also responded, Felish said.

The child’s condition was unknown Sunday, police said.

You may contact the reporter at jhanson@havasunews.com.