HOUSTON (CW39) — New information from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)`s Pool Safely compiled by the USA Swimming Foundation, found that at least 37 children ages 15 and younger fatally drowned in pools or spas during June, seven of which occurred in Texas.
That’s up more than 130% from this time last year when there were three reported drownings in Texas during June 2020.
Through the first half of the year Texas leads the nation with the highest number (17) of media-reported fatal child drownings in pools and spas, followed by Florida (16), Arizona (10), and Minnesota (7).
Because drowning remains the leading cause of unintentional death for children ages 1-4, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission`s Pool Safely Campaign is encouraging everyone to follow simple safety steps.
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission offer these Simple Steps to Help Save Lives
Pool Safely is urging parents and caregivers to practice water safety by following these simple safety steps to prevent more drownings:
- Never leave a child unattended in a pool or spa and always watch your children closely around all bodies of water.
- Designate a Water Watcher to supervise children in the pool or spa. This person should not be reading, using a smart phone or be otherwise distracted.
- Learn how to swim and teach your child how to swim.
- Learn how to perform CPR on children and adults.
- Keep children away from pool drains, pipes and other openings to avoid entrapments.
- Ensure any pool and spa you use has drain covers that comply with federal safety standards, and if you do not know, ask your pool service provider about safe drain covers and ask your public pool if their drains are “VGB compliant.”
- Join the 90,000+ others and take the Pool Safely Pledge before spending time in or near the water.
Families can visit poolsafely.gov for additional water safety tips on how to remain vigilant about drowning prevention all year.
