Children's Safety Zone

The 7-year-old Somerton boy who was saved from drowning by his 12-year-old brother and a neighbor Saturday morning is back home and recovering, according to Robby Rodriguez of the Somerton/Cocopah Fire Department.

The two boys had been swimming without adult supervision at the Chaves Apartments complex in the 500 block of Somerton Avenue when the older brother went to their apartment for a drink. When he returned, he spotted the 7-year-old at the bottom of the pool.

A neighbor who was outside heard the older boy screaming and went to see what was happening.

The neighbor and the older boy pulled the boy from the pool. The 7-year-old was unconscious and not breathing. The neighbor administered CPR. When SCFD firefighters arrived at 10:52 a.m., they found the 7-year-old boy being held up by his brother and with pool water coming out of his mouth.

This is the third drowning or near-drowning instance involving children that the SCFD fire department has responded to in recent years, according to Rodriguez. A 14-month-old child drowned in a uncovered cesspool in March 2010, and a 4-year-old girl was pulled from a canal in the area of East Main Canal Bridge on the East Cocopah Indian Reservation in 2008.

“If a parent gives a child permission to use the pool, they must be there to watch the child at all times. It must be done,” Rodriguez said. “We don’t want any more children killed while being unattended.”

SCFD firefighters returned to the same complex later that same day for an unrelated medical call, according to Rodriguez, and observed five more children swimming unattended in the pool.

“That didn’t set well with us. We met with the apartment complex management (Monday morning) and offered to teach a pool safety class to all the residents. It is our job as firefighters to get this information out there so incidents like this don’t keep happening.”

Rodriguez said the SCFD is also proposing a city ordinance that establishes minimum public pool safety requirements. Currently, the city of Somerton code only requires pools to be completely enclosed by a permanent fence, wall or barrier.

The intent of the Ordinance Development Team, he said, is to specify required fence heights, gate types (self-closing), proper signage and appropriate safety devices.

Glendale parents handed off their child to an ambulance while en route to the hospital after the child nearly drowned Monday night, Glendale Fire Department spokesmen Daniel Valenzuela said.

Three minutes after a 911 call was placed, firefighters arrived at a home near 48th Avenue and Carol Avenue to find that no one was home.

The parents of the child, who is approximately 2 years old, had left their home to rush their child to the hospital. On the way, they saw an ambulance, flagged it down and sent the child to a nearby hospital. The child was in critical condition late Monday, Valenzuela said.

The cause of the near drowning is still under investigation.

The Glendale Fire Department encourages families to follow the instructions of the 911 dispatcher and wait until firefighters arrive at the scene of such incidents, Valenzuela added.

Rescue workers found a Goodyear woman floating in her pool at about 2:30 p.m. on Sunday after a neighbor called 911.

Fire department officials said she was not breathing and didn’t have a heartbeat. Rescue workers treated her at the scene and said they were able to get a slight pulse from her.

The 58-year-old woman was taken to a West Valley hospital where she remains in critical condition. Officials do not know if she has suffered any brain damage or how long she was under water.

The woman has not been identified by officials but they said she lives alone in the Estrella Mountain community.

On Monday, Officials told CBS 5 News that a medical condition was most likely the cause.

We are dedicated to saving children this swim season with our Kristi’s Kids, News4 Lifesaver program. We are getting the word out about the A.B.C’s of swim safety.

We caught-up with one our News4 Lifesaver partner Rural/Metro Fire as they took the message to first graders at Ironwood Elementary.

“We’re here because we want to talk to you guys about being water safe.”

Anne Marie Braswell is with Rural/Metro Fire. She’s talking to first graders because, she says, this age group is so receptive.

“And they want to go home and share important information with their parents and their siblings.”

The information she wants them to share?

“The A.B.C.’s are adult supervision, barriers around any body of water, specifically pools. And classes. Specifically swim classes for our kids and CPR classes for adults.”

It’s important for Rural/Metro’s first responders to make an impact on these young kids.

“The worst call that any of our fire fighters can go on, is a pediatric drowning.”

So the kids are hearing about Stuey the duck. They’re filling out work sheets, to help them remember the A.B.C’S. They get to take a Stuey the duck visor home and they make a water safety pledge.

“We really want them to take ownership of their water safety,” says Braswell.

So are the first graders soaking it all up?

“That an adult should always be watching you and you should take classes and…and make sure there’s a fence around the pool,” says first-grader Lucas Martes.

And Isabella Ebert?

“A is for adult supervision. B is for a gate. And then C is for classes!”

First graders are receptive but all kids need to be taught and reminded. Remember, if you’re watching the kids, by the pool we have free water watcher whistles for you. Just swing by the station at 209 W. Elm St. to pick one up.

The traditional start of the summer swimming season – Memorial Day weekend – is quickly approaching. Thousands of children have already flocked to swimming pools to cool off and have fun.

Unfortunately, it has already been a tragic start to year for the many Arizonans. In the first 16 weeks of 2011, there have been nine drowning and near-drowning incidents across the state.

At the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, we believe one incident is one too many. Drowning is a leading cause of death for children, but it is preventable.

In one week’s time, there have been five drownings and one near-drowning in the Phoenix area. Two girls, ages 2 and 3, drowned in Mesa last month; and a 7-year-old girl drowned and two 1-year-old girls nearly drowned in Phoenix. All five incidents occurred in backyard pools. Unfortunately, this scenario is all too familiar.

As a warmer-weather state where children enjoy pools and spas year-round, Arizona is among the top states for drownings and near-drownings of children younger than 15. A look at last year’s pool and spa incidents indicates that the number of injuries and deaths remains too high. In 2010, the media reported more than 530 drowning and near-drowning incidents nationwide and 46 of these were in Arizona.

Each of these incidents represents a family tragedy.

As the chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, I have been traveling the country urging parents and children to follow simple water-safety steps to protect themselves in and around pools and spas. Our national public-education campaign, Pool Safely: Simple Steps Save Lives, aims to reduce childhood drownings, near-drownings and entrapments in and around swimming pools and spas. The campaign was created as part of the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, which mandated new safety requirements for swimming pools and spas, including a national education campaign.

We all remember – and applaud – the heroic actions of a young boy last month who used a Pool Safely water-safety step – CPR – to save his sister in Mesa.

To pool safely is to watch your children at all times, know lifesaving water skills like CPR or learning how to swim, and ensure you have the appropriate safety equipment installed in your pool or spa. Pool alarms and self-latching gates can help keep the little ones from getting into the pool area. Installing a 4-foot fence around residential swimming pools and spas is another simple water-safety step that can help to prevent an incident. The Pool Safely campaign recommends adopting as many water-safety steps as possible.

With springtime upon us, we need to remind all families about the simple water-safety steps they can take to ensure they are safe this summer and year-round. Adding just one extra safety step around the water can make all the difference. You can never know which safety step will save a life – until it does.

Inez M. Tenenbaum is the chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. For more information, please visit www.PoolSafely.gov.