Blogs

5-year-old girl drowns in College Park pool

What a tragic way to start the summer.  Without a doubt, it is every parent's worst nightmare.

A 5-year-old girl drowned last week in a public swimming pool in College Park, Maryland.  She was there with other children from a summer day camp.  It was swim day.  Reports are that there were 250 people in the pool at the time she drowned, and there were 5 lifeguards on duty.  (There were 8 lifeguard chairs.)  She drowned in two feet of water.

Drownings are silent events.  There are no screams for help or big splashes and swinging arms.  Children just  quietly slip under the water.  According to Prince George's County Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department spokesman Mark Brady, the single most important child drowning prevention measure is supervision.  That's what lifeguards are supposed to do.  That's what they are supposed to be trained to do.

Child drowning deaths total about 1,000 per year.  That number is large, but it is just a number.  I cannot imagine the untold sorrow each of the families must endure. 

One family who lost a four-year-old child has turned its sorrow into a website -- If Pools Could Talk -- that has valuable information about childhood drownings and safety precautions.  If anyone reads this blog and knows someone who would benefit from that website, I hope you will forward the information on.