Water Safety Campaign Turns Spotlight on Kids, 'Unnecessary Deaths'

By PETER M. WARREN

June 7, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Children drown without a sound.

It is the slogan this year for the Orange County Fire Chiefs’ Assn. drowning prevention campaign. It is an all too apt one for Mary Glass, whose 20-month-old son, Crissy, died in 1991 in a backyard spa during a family barbecue.

“I was doing the laundry with him upstairs and it was the last time I saw him alive,” said the Dove Canyon woman, who has worked since then to promote pool safety. She told her story Tuesday in Irvine as firefighters launched the county’s drowning prevention program.

“Others were cooking in the backyard, . . . his father, his grandfather,” Glass said. She recalled a few frantic moments looking for the toddler. Somehow he had gotten past the French doors and through two sets of gates.

“I looked at my husband and said, ‘Where’s Crissy?’ And we both turned. He was floating in the spa,” she said. “You think your child is going to yell for help. That is not true. They swallow water and [are drowning] in 20 seconds.”

As Glass spoke at the South Lake Beach Club in Irvine, firefighters from around Orange County listened intently, clearly moved.

Many said they had responded to drowning emergencies; they remember vividly the death of little ones under age 5, children drawn to water like ducklings and too young to know its dangers.

Since 1990 in Orange County, 88 children younger than 5 have drowned. So far this year, four people have drowned, including two children, ages 6 and 4, both of whom drowned in apartment or condominium pools.

Firefighters Offer Safety Tips

“These are unnecessary deaths,” said Garry Layman of the Orange County Fire Authority. The campaign in Orange County began in 1995-96 when the chiefs’ association decided to place an emphasis on education and awareness; 30 children younger than 5 had drowned between 1993 and 1995.

The drowning prevention program targets parents.

“Swimming safety is something we teach kids, but drowning prevention is geared to parents,” Layman said. Adults can be lulled into a false sense of security when toddlers are given swimming lessons.

“They are in a developmental stage, and even if they have swimming lessons, they may not be able to use them in a stressful situation,” he said.

Firefighters emphasize three cornerstones of water safety:

* Erect barriers to the pool;

* Provide proper supervision at all times;

* Ensure those supervising are adults trained in CPR.

Barrier systems should include fencing around the property, as well as separate barriers around the pool, such as a pool cover and locks on doors or gates that have access to the pool, said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Paul Hunter.

He also recommended door alarms, and even the latest in safety tools--in-water alarms that are triggered when anyone enters the pool.

To stress the importance of good supervision, firefighters were handing out 4-by-2-inch plastic laminate neck tags that read: “While wearing this tag, I accept the responsibility for guarding the pool to protect children from drowning. I will not leave the pool area without a replacement.”

That means, Hunter said, not going inside to answer the telephone or get snacks, and hanging a sign near the front door bell saying you are in the backyard.

Finally, they recommend training in CPR as a hedge against disaster while waiting for paramedics. “If you pull someone out who needs CPR, the sooner you start the better,” he said. “It increases the chance for survival.”

To promote safe pools, Orange County fire officials will send a pool-safety checklist and other information to residents. Just call (714) 532-7266. The agency also supplies some product information and can send someone to do a site check at homes.

Tuesday’s kickoff event in Irvine will be followed by other drowning prevention programs during Drowning Prevention and Awareness Month. (See graphic.)

The June campaign touches a deep well of emotion in many firefighters. Layman recalled two visits to state-run Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa, where some children--young near-drowning victims with severe brain damage--are hooked to machines 24 hours a day.

Orange County Fire Chief Charles “Chip” Prather said his inspiration stems from a 911 call he took in 1976 while working as a paramedic in the Lake Forest area.

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Prather said. “A woman was collapsed in the front of the house, saying, ‘I killed my child, I killed my child.’

“We ran around the back as the [family’s] dog bit my leg. And there was a mailman trying to do CPR on this little guy,” he said. “We all experience it as firefighters. It has a profound effect on all of us and on the families.”

Moreover, he said, “it is all preventable.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Swimming Safely

While pools are in use year-round in California, the start of summer signals an increase in pool and seaside drownings, with most victims being younger than 10.

KEEPING YOUR POOL SAFE

Install several barriers, including a four-sided fence with self-closing gate, pool alarm and locked pool cover.

Keep live preservers with 50-foot-lightweight line attached, life jackets and shepherd’s crook.

AREA DROWNINGS

Children up to 4 years old

1990:14

1993: 15

1999: 8

2000: 1*

* Year 200O figure to date

PROGRAMS

Each event held from 10 a.m. to noon.