Each a Preventable Death

Orange County, a land endowed with the ocean at its back door and affluent enough to have many swimming pools, has a perennial mixed blessing. The young summer season already has illustrated a variety of water safety hazards at the edge of the Pacific, and in the area’s many swimming pools. So far this year four people have drowned.

Rip currents in Newport Beach twice have led to tragedy when unprepared or inexperienced swimmers were swept to their deaths.

On June 4, one victim, last spotted about 100 yards offshore, was not as fortunate as several other swimmers who were rescued after being out in waters near him. The next day, the man’s family made a sad journey to the shoreline. The harsh reality of the moment was put succinctly by a rescuer from the Newport Beach Fire and Marine Department: “It’s a recovery [effort] . . . not a rescue.”

Last week five more people were rescued from heavy surf off a jetty in Newport Beach and several were hospitalized after nearly drowning.

In May, a 17-year-old boy drowned while swimming with friends near Newport Pier, caught up in another rip current, even as two siblings ages 10 and 13 were rescued near 24th Street.

The lure of the ocean on beautiful days belies the danger lurking in the surf. Inexperienced swimmers can wade into the currents and find themselves unexpectedly transported outward in a panic. Surfers and other experienced swimmers might know to ride the current out and then swim parallel to the shore to safety once the current has abated, but the need for public education continues.

These cautionary tales are a reminder of the need for all to take extra care and, most important, to heed the warnings of lifeguards who post flags indicating what the conditions are. It is worth knowing what the various flags mean, and especially important that beachgoers take the time to look for them on arrival. Only green indicates that water conditions are safe; yellow means caution and red mean danger. The day of the June 4 drowning incident, the red flags were out and 62 rescues were made. Experts note that even a green flag does not offer any guarantee.

Efforts to ensure safety ultimately rest with the choices made by individual swimmers. The lifeguards can do only so much. That so many rescues were made on the same day a man drowned in June, and that others were saved when the teenager drowned in May offers a cautionary tale. Beachgoers must recognize that the availability of courageous rescue crews may not be enough to avert disaster. Rip currents should be anticipated and respected.

At the county’s vast inventory of swimming pools, a more passive hazard awaits. Each season, warnings go out about the dangers to young children. Reminders are given about the need for self-locking gates and general vigilance. In homes with pools, a sliding glass door left ajar can be deadly even in the time it takes a parent or guardian to answer the telephone.

On Memorial Day weekend, the drowning of a mother and her young daughter at an Aliso Viejo townhouse complex brought home the dangers of the outdoor pool season. Earlier in May, a 6-year-old boy drowned in another swimming pool complex, even though a baby-sitter was attending.

Such incidents indicate how easy it is to be lulled into a false sense of safety. Adults who can’t swim will not necessarily be able to rescue children by wading after them.

A child can be lost when a baby-sitter is distracted only momentarily. Capt. Paul Hunter of the Orange County Fire Authority’s water safety program notes the importance of having an adult whose sole job it is to watch the water and not be diverted by conversation and not leave the scene. The problem exists in the backyard or neighborhood association pool as well. In addition to supervision, such measures as self-closing gates, pool alarms and locked pool covers are important.

The department has again conducted its water-safety awareness campaign this year. Parents are an important audience for these messages, to be sure that they properly supervise young swimmers. Orange County fire officials also will send a pool-safety checklist and other information to those who want to more information. Call (714) 532-7266.

Even with such efforts, Orange County still loses young children every year. Since 1990, 88 children younger than 5 have drowned. The experts call these drownings entirely preventable. That knowledge provides ample motivation to parents and supervising adults to take extra care around pools and at the waterfront.