FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Diane Holm, Lee County Health Department, (941) 332-9590

OFFICIALS URGING PARENTS TO ACCESS DROWNING PREVENTION INFORMATION

FORT MYERS, Fla. (May 7, 2003) -Drownings in the under 5 age group were down last year in Lee County, and local drowning prevention advocates hope this year brings even lower statistics.

Nonetheless, drowning continues to be the leading cause of unintentional injury death in children under 5. Nationally, about 300 children under age five drown in swimming pools per year, usually a pool owned by their family. In addition, more than 2,000 children in that age group are treated in hospital emergency rooms for submersion injuries.

Tragically, the months of April and May have been the time, historically, when the first drowning of the year is recorded in Lee County as the temperatures warm and summer months approach. Children can drown in as little as one inch of water and are therefore at risk of drowning in wading pools, bathtubs, buckets, diaper pails, toilets, spas and hot tubs.

A number of drowning prevention and swimming training programs are available for youngsters and parents, and officials urge parents to become familiar with the tools they need to train and educate their children. The Lee County Health Department is offering parent classes in water safety education and drowning prevention. Contact Diane Holm, drowning prevention coordinator, at 332-9504. In addition, other Learn to Swim programs include:

• Lee County Parks & Recreation summer swimming programs at county pools. For more information, go to Parks & Recreation web site at leeparks.org or call 461-7400.
• Swim lessons at City of Fort Myers Parks & Recreation (Sam Fleishman Pool), 931-7020, and City of Cape Coral Parks & Recreation (SunSplash and Yacht Club), 574-0806 or 574-0558.
• YMCA swim lessons at Cape Coral and Cypress Lake high schools and S.T.A.R.S. Complex, 275-9622.
• Fort Myers Beach Pool, 463-5759, and Sanibel Recreation Complex, 472-0345.

To learn more about drowning prevention, visit these web sites:

1. National Center for Injury Prevention at http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/drown.htm.
2. SafeUSA at http://www.safeusa.org/water/water.htm.
3. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/chdrown.html.
4. The United States Lifesaving Association at http://www.usla.org/index.shtml.
5. National SafeKids Campaign at http://www.safekids.org/tier2_rl.cfm?folder_id=181.