Children's Safety Zone

Fire and rescue crews soon will be pounding the pavement to get the word out about the importance of water safety.

With a goal to reach 60,000 homes, fire personnel and volunteers “ﾔ including those in Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, Apache Junction, San Tan Valley and Queen Creek “ﾔ will be distributing informational brochures and tips door to door in partnership with Banner Cardon Children’s Medical Center, Rural Metro Fire Department, Southwest Ambulance and Salt River Project’s Safety Connection from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.

With 16 fatalities from water-related incidents in the Valley this year so far, including eight in the East Valley, the agencies are encouraging people to read the literature and not throw it away. They say water safety education can help save more lives, especially in the way of having a fence around the pool, adult supervision and knowing CPR.

“It’s been an early start for drowning calls,” said Michele Long, a fire and life safety education safety specialist for the Mesa Fire Department. “We’re hearing that this is happening to people who never thought it would happen to them. We want to stress this is not about parenting skills “ﾔ it’s about a turn of the head. Toddlers can get out of your sight so quick.”

Five of the year’s East Valley water-related fatalities are children, according to statistics reported by fire departments throughout Maricopa County to Children’s Safety Zone, which monitors drowning calls. Gilbert has had two child fatalities from water-related incidents, Chandler one and Mesa two, according to the statistics.

Last year by April 30, there were no fatal drownings in the East Valley, but there were 10 fatal drownings throughout the rest of the Valley, including five children, according to the statistics.

In fact, the leading cause of death for children in Arizona ranging in age from 1 to 4 are drownings, the statistics show.

In many cases, although parents keep a watchful eye over children during family events around swimming pools, all it takes is a turn of the head, two inches of water or someone not knowing how to swim to create a dangerous scenario if a small child or an adult falls into a swimming pool, bathtub and most recently, the Salt River in east Mesa. On Sunday, the body of a 16-year-old boy was recovered; he apparently drowned trying to swim across a 50-foot stretch across the river on Pebble Beach near the Blue Point Bridge, in Rural/Metro Fire Department’s jurisdiction. Witnesses saw the boy go under about 1 p.m., but nobody could get to him or find him, said Mark Cichocki, a Rural/Metro spokesman.

At least one East Valley family was lucky after one recent water-related incident, but rescue officials stress that’s a rare outcome.

The morning of April 17 began busier than normal for a Sunday at the home of Suzanna Saghin in east Mesa: Nine-year-old Tristin Saghin was inside the house playing a video game. His mother Kimberly had just finished combing the hair of Brooke Saghin, Tristin’s 2-year-old sister, and was folding sheets as they were getting ready to head out for the day. Suzanna, their grandmother, was taking a shower. Then it hit them like a ton of bricks “ﾔ “Where is the baby?” Kimberly asked.

Unknown to all of them, Brook Saghin was outside and had fallen into the family pool. She was found floating in the water, not breathing “ﾔ and it wasn’t known how long she had been in it.

That weekend, there were at least four drowning calls in the Valley alone, including the fatality of a 3-year-old girl at a Mesa home the day before. The Saghin incident was the only one with a positive outcome; after Brooke’s mother pulled her out of the pool, Tristin performed CPR on her “ﾔ something he learned from watching the movie “Black Hawk Down.” The boy’s actions proved pivotal in saving his sister’s life before emergency crews arrived and took her to the hospital.

“This could’ve happened to anyone, but we never thought it could’ve happened to us,” said Brooke’s father, Chris Saghin, who flew into Arizona from the family’s home in Las Vegas when he was informed of the incident. Earlier this month, the mother of an 11-month-old girl pulled her from a bathtub in Tempe after the child’s mother left her unattended with the water running, but it didn’t drain out of the tub properly.

The child remains in critical condition, according to information from the Tempe Police Department.

“No body of water is safe,” said Cichocki.”We want to get the word out to stress the importance of adult supervision and fences around pools. Drownings can happen to anybody, anywhere, anytime, but with people being educated on water safety, it can better be prevented.”

Contact writer: (480) 898-6533 or msakal@evtrib.com

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.

GILBERT, AZ – Authorities say a 3-year-old boy is dead after he was found in a neighbor’s pool Saturday.

The boy went missing from his grandparents’ home and police had been called in to help with the search in a neighborhood near Lindsay and Elliot roads.

Gilbert Fire Department spokesman Mike Connor said around 2 p.m. searchers heard a neighbor scream and family and police arrived to see the neighbors pulling the boy from the pool.

The boy was taken to Cardon Children’s Medical Center in Mesa where he died.

A family friend said the 3-year-old was very active.

“He was a little bit of handful but what kids aren’t these days,” Cameron Stoker said.

No one is sure yet how the boy got to the neighbor’s pool.

Police are now investigating.

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.

CHANDLER, AZ – More than 1,000 first grade students will learn the ABC’s of water safety during the 12th annual Water Safety Day hosted by Chandler Gilbert Community College.

A large pool filled with warm water offers a fun way to spend a day outside the classroom, but the lessons learned Tuesday will likely save lives.

Each year, children in 100 Maricopa County die in water related accents. Twenty of them lose their lives in the water. Already this year, two children have lost their lives to drowning, and peak pool season hasn’t even begun.

Water Safety Day aims to change the statistics. The event is organized by Water Watchers, a program at Phoenix Children’s Hospital founded by Druann Letter.

Letter lost her young son, Weston, in 1998 when he drowned in his family’s swimming pool.

Today, Druann Letter keeps the memory of her son alive by showing others how to prevent such a tragedy.

During Water Safety Day, the children will learn how to be safe around water. They’ll learn rescue swimming techniques and how to look out for themselves and others.

The ABC’s of water safety summarizes it all.

“A” is for adult supervision. Children who have access to water should have eye to eye contact with adults at all times. “B” is for barrier. Fences and door locks act as a second line of defense by restricting a child’s access to the water. “C” is for classes. Adults should have current CPR training and children should have swimming lessons.

As the children begin to splash in the swimming pool, Druann Letter says she wants parents to know how quickly their children can slip away.

“It can happen so fast,” she said. “You’re never supposed to bury your children.”

Phoenix Children’s Hospital has more information on its website to keep families water safe.