Officials Give Tips on Water Safety

When children drown in swimming pools or bathtubs, they don’t make noise, so parents may not be alerted to pending disaster, an expert said Friday.

“Kids don’t yell or splash around. Their heads are heavy, and they just sink,” Mary Marlin of Children’s Hospital of Orange County told parents at a community awareness session Friday at Crown Valley Pool in Laguna Niguel. “Irreversible brain damage can happen in as little as four minutes under the water.”

Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death to children under 5 in Orange County. There have been four child drowning deaths this year and 14 near-drownings, said Capt. Scott Brown of the Orange County Fire Authority.

The Fire Authority and CHOC are joining forces to reduce such tragedies by teaching water safety. And the word seems to be getting out. “I didn’t know that so many 2- to 4-year-olds drowned each year,” said Michelle Nathan, a Laguna Niguel resident with two sons under age 5.

Here are some measures that CHOC and the Fire Authority advise parents to take to ensure their children’s safety:

* Don’t count on swimming lessons to keep children safe. They must be constantly supervised.

* Have as many barriers as possible between children and the water, including alarms, tall fences, well-maintained self-latching gates and locks, and pool safety covers.

* Assign an adult “water watcher” to supervise the pool and spa area when children are around, especially during social gatherings. Assign a second adult to maintain constant visual contact with children.

* Never leave a child alone near a pool, spa, bathtub, toilet, water-filled bucket or pond.

Here’s what to do if you find a child in a pool:

* Yell for help and get the child out onto the deck.

* If someone is with you, have them call 911. Determine whether the child is breathing. Tilt the head back and, if you don’t hear or feel breathing or see the chest rising, begin CPR immediately. Continue CPR until emergency help arrives.

* If you are alone and the child is not breathing, start CPR. After one minute, call 911. Then return to the child and continue CPR.

Residents may sign up for free CPR training and request a presentation of the safety program by calling the Fire Authority at (714) 744-0496.