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We're talking about water safety with the Children's Board of Hillsborough County.
Drowning is one of the leading causes of death for children birth to six years old. According to the Hillsborough County medical examiner, there were eight child deaths due to drowning in 2022. In the last nine years, 97 children have died due to drowning in the Tampa Bay area.
The Children's Board of Hillsborough County is sharing tips to prevent these deaths from happening to families:
- Install two barriers to access any pool and hot tubes, like door alarms and pool fences.
- You can also use pool safety covers or pool alarms that float to the surface of the pool.
- Tell children to stay away from the pool without an adult.
- Also, tell children to stay away from pool and spa drains
Unfortunately, all it takes is an adult taking their eyes off a child for a few minutes for them to drown. Drowning happens silently, parents need to remain vigilant when children are around water.
The Children's Board of Hillsborough County strongly encourages adults to be within arm’s length of children while in the water. In addition to parental supervision, designate an adult “water watcher” and give them a whistle or way to distinguish them. Their main responsibility is to watch the pool area for 15 minutes and not read, talk on the phone, or have any other distractions during that time.
Swim lessons for kids under the age of four reduces the risk of drowning by 88%. Parents are strongly encouraged to call their local aquatics center to enroll their children in swim lessons.
2/3 of small children who downed in a pool were last seen in the house. If you can’t find your child anywhere in the home, and you have a pool, please check the pool.
For more information, visit PreventNeedlessDeaths.com.
