Child-drowning deaths near 50 in Texas

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Although summer does not officially arrive until June 21, some 49 Texas children have drowned, state officials say.

That's more than half of all the children who drowned in 2008, and, as the swim season arrives, all Texans are urged to be extremely cautious around water, even indoors.

Just this week, five children have drowned, according to the annual count by the Department of Family and Protective Services:

• On June 16, two brothers, 13 and 11, drowned in a pool in Laredo. At the time, dozens of other children were in the pool and adults were in the area;
• On June 15, an 18-month-old boy who was left unattended drowned in a pool in Waxahachie;
• Also on June 15, a two-year-old girl walked out of her Corsicana home through an unlocked door, fell into the backyard pool and drowned;
• On June 17, a two-year-old boy drowned in his backyard pool in Spring.

"Each of these tragedies could have been prevented, simply by not leaving children alone, either in water or near water," said Sasha Rasco, DFPS assistant commissioner for Child Care Licensing. "Children should never be left unsupervised for any length of time in or around water, because the results can be devastating in a matter of minutes. If you can’t see them, you can’t save them."

This year's drowning deaths have typically occurred in outdoors, in swimming pools, bayous, and ponds. But children also have drowned in bathtubs and a hot tub. In early 2009, in Brazoria County, a 3-year-old boy drowned in a pool while at a party, and in Fort Bend County, a 3-year-old girl drowned in a pond at her family’s home. In Starr County, a 6-year-old girl drowned after falling into an apartment swimming pool, and in Williamson County, an 8-month-old girl drowned in a bathtub after a parent left her to answer a telephone.

On average, 70 children have drowned each year since DFPS began its unofficial count in 2005. DFPS identified 66 drowning deaths in 2005, 70 in 2006, and 63 in 2008.

In 2008, 82 children drowned in Texas, the highest total since the count began.

Federal statistics show that children under one year most often drown in bathtubs, buckets, or toilets, while children from one to four years old drown most often in residential swimming pools. Most young children who drowned in pools were last seen in the home, had been out of sight less than five minutes, and were in the care of one or both parents at the time.

For more information about children and water safety, please visit the See & Save Web site.