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Drowning Prevention Day Tomorrow
Mar 28, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Diane Holm, Public Information Officer DROWNING PREVENTION DAY TOMORROW March 28, 2008 – Home pools, spas and decorative ponds are leading sites for children under five to drown, but tomorrow's Water Safety Day is planned to teach residents and visitors to make prevention a priority. Fifteen waterfront facilities will offer programs and information about keeping kids safe around the water on Water Safety Day, Saturday, March 29, sponsored by the South West Florida Drowning Prevention Committee (SWFDPC). Everything from free swimming lessons and games to flyers on the multiple layers of prevention that must be in place to prevent pre-school age children from drowning will be given out with the goal to stop this preventable tragedy in Lee and Collier counties. "Drowning is totally preventable," said Diane Holm, Chair of SWFDPC and Public Information Officer for Lee County Public Safety. "We can't get rid of a child's natural curiosity, but we can create layers of protection, to buy parents and caregivers those precious few minutes needed to find a child near water before tragedy occurs." Each of the 15 participating sites will create their own plan to educate patrons during their regular operating hours. All will give away free safety resources including Designated Water Watcher lanyards for adults and coloring books for children. Participating sites include Bonita Springs Community Pool, Bonita YMCA, Cape Coral Yacht Club pool, FGCU Community Pool, Franklin Locks, Ft. Myers Aquatic Center, Ft. Myers Golfview Pool, Lehigh Community Pool, Naples YMCA, North Ft. Myers Community Pool, Phillips Park Community Pool, San Carlos Community Pool, Sanibel Community Pool, STARS Complex pool, Sun Splash Water Park. The drowning rate jumps by 50 percent this month and continues to climb until October every year in South West Florida. At least one Lehigh child under age 5 died of drowning already this month. "Drowning is silent and only takes seconds," said Holm. "Parents lose sight of their child while handling every day tasks only to find them at the bottom of the pool, spa, decorative pond, bath tub or mop bucket. They don't want to believe this can happen to them." Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4 in the state, and Florida leads the nation by nearly double in drownings according to Centers for Disease Control data. Florida loses the equivalent of two pre-school classes of children to drowning each year. Nationwide CDC shows more than 800 children ages 14 and under die from drowning, and more than 4,000 go to the emergency room after near-drowning incidents annually.
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