When a federal report on pool and spa drowning for young children during the 2012 summer were released last week, Texas topped the list, with 17 death cases and California second with 10 cases.
According to the report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) Pool Safety campaign, about 137 children below 15 years-old lost their lives after drowning in a pool or spa and another 168 children needed emergency admission for nearly drowning from Memorial Day to Labor Day in 2012. The report also found a significant number of the cases, 100 out of 137, occurring with small children below five.
The reports based on the media reports also found more than 50 children drowning when left alone in the pool without an adult supervision.
Every year, nearly 400 pool or spa-related drowning are reported among children below 15 years across the country, the report said. Ohio (9), Arizona (8), Michigan (8), Pennsylvania (7) and Florida (6) are some other states reporting the largest number of pool and spa drowning.
"These figures are a strong indication that child drownings are a serious public health problem," CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum said, in a news release. "We are losing too many children to drowning, tragically cutting short these young lives and leaving families devastated. While summer is ending, our vigilance in ensuring that all children pool safely must not end. With so many indoor community pools, hotel pools and spas, indoor waterparks, as well as outdoor pools that remain open in warm-weather states, we must continue our efforts to remind everyone to pool safely whenever they are near the water."
Following are some recommendations from Pool Safety campaign to prevent the occurrence and ensure the safety of the young children in pool:
* Supervising the child when he/she is in the pool
* Never leave the child in the pool unattended
* Educate children about some water safety tips, by informing them about the risks of openings like pipes and pool drains
* Learn the basic water safety skills and performing CPR on children
* Ensure the safety of the children by installing four-sided pool fencing, lockable safety cover for spas and life saving equipments like life rings or reaching pole.
The report comes as a continuation of Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report "Drowning-United States, 2005-2009," in May that found about 2.5 deaths taking place for every 100,000 children in the country.
