2-Year-Old Drowns in Host Family’s Pool : Tragedy: Paul Miller’s death brings this year’s toll to at least 17. New county safety regulations take effect Sept. 1.

A 2-year-old visitor from England drowned in a back-yard swimming pool at a Valencia home, authorities said Thursday, bringing to at least 17 the number of children who have died in such accidents this year in Los Angeles County.

Pool and spa drowning is second to homicide as the leading killer of children age 5 and under in California.

“And for every drowning death, approximately three to six children suffer severe injuries from near drownings, such as brain damage,” said Billy Weiss, director of injury and violence prevention for the county Department of Heath Services.

Paul Miller’s body was found floating in the pool at the home of Jon and Lenore Hunt Wednesday evening, as the Hunts and the boy’s parents were in the kitchen.

“We were fixing dinner and Mrs. Miller realized that he was missing,” Lenore Hunt said Thursday. “I told her to check the front [of the house] and I thought of the pool. I found him floating, quiet, and I pulled him out.”

Hunt said she and the boy’s father began to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation and called paramedics.

The toddler was pronounced dead at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital at 7:40 p.m., sheriff’s deputies said.

“Well, it happens, and it’s unfortunate,” said Sgt. Rick Doan of the Santa Clarita sheriff’s station. “There are quite a few pools out here.”

The Millers and their four children were visiting from England at the Hunts’ home for the past month.

“When you have guests who aren’t familiar with pools, you have to harp on the issues and insist all guidelines are followed,” said Lenore Hunt.

The home is equipped with alarms that sound when any door to the back yard opens, she said. But she could not explain how the child got outside unnoticed by any adults.

“I can’t tell you how much responsibility I feel,” Hunt said.

Calling the circumstances of the drowning “typical,” Deanne Tilton Durfee, executive director of the Los Angeles County Interagency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, said: “It’s a tragic but perfect example of what we need to do about pool-drowning prevention.”

“Kids are drawn to pools,” Durfee said. “Even if they can swim, they can fall, panic and slip to the bottom of the pool.”

The County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a pool-safety ordinance this month requiring that barrier fences or alarms be installed on newly constructed or remodeled pools, spas and hot tubs. The ordinance will go into effect Sept. 1.

“One of the arguments against the ordinance was that if you don’t have children, why should they go to the trouble?” Durfee said. “Thirty-three percent [of drownings] are not in the pool of the children’s parents.”

Also on Thursday, a 17-month-old Woodland Hills girl was in critical condition after family members pulled her out of a hot tub about 5 p.m. in the 4700 block of San Feliciano Drive, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman said. A dispatcher talked the frantic mother through CPR until paramedics could rush the girl to West Hills Regional Medical Center.

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Pool Safety

A 2-year-old boy drowned in a back yard pool in Valencia Wednesday, even though the door leading to the pool was equipped with an alarm. Barrier fencing around new and remodeled pools will be required, according to an ordinance that goes into effect Sept. 1.

Drownings

The number of children 5 years old and younger who drowned in Los Angeles County:

1995: 16*

1994: 34

1993: 40

* As of July 31

Protection

Health officials recommend various safety measures to prevent pool injuries.

* According to a new regulation, in effect Sept. 1, all new and remodeled pools, spas and Jacuzzis must have a barrier fence built around them.

* All doors leading to the pool should be equipped with an alarm.

* Pools should have an automatic cover.

* Rescue equipment such as life preserver rings, life jackets and shepherd’s crook should be kept poolside.

Sources: Los Angeles County Dept. of Health Services, Injury and Violence Prevention; Los Angeles County Building & Safety Dept.