Emily Goldstein
I wrote this story as an independent contractor for The Dallas Morning News in the summer of 2006. I worked with a videographer and a Web designer to build a micro-site on the dangers of drowning, which included video, links and statistics. For the micro-site, my editor and I removed all timely aspects of the story so it could be used again. View the story at DallasNews.com. See the micro-site at DallasNews.com.
Drownings follow consistent pattern
It has happened to her more than 20 times, yet Dr. Maeve Sheehan never forgets the faces of the children who died after being pulled from water.
“It’s a child that looks perfect – hasn’t got a bruise, hasn’t got a bump,” said Dr. Sheehan, a pediatric intensive care physician at Children’s Medical Center Dallas. “And that child doesn’t wake up and doesn’t go home.”
It’s a scene that has become frighteningly familiar in North Texas. At least 11 people, four of them children, have drowned accidentally since mid-May. And experts say the pattern generally has been consistent: children lose their lives in swimming pools, while adults are more likely to drown in open water, like a lake.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drowning is the second-leading cause of injury-related death among children ages 1 to 14.
Adults are not immune to fatal water accidents, although they are less common. One water safety organization reports that in Texas, nearly 300 people die by drowning each year.
“We’ve had a lot of drownings for the start of the season,” said Capt. Garry Collins of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Dallas District.
Experts cite several reasons for the disparities between pool and lake accidents: Adults are more likely to protect children in open water, but may not wear life jackets themselves. They ride personal watercraft without training. Alcohol impairs their judgment.
Pools are more accessible to children. Parents have a false sense of security about their ability to keep track of youngsters. And they are under the mistaken impression that children splash and scream when they are struggling, when actually they slip under the water noiselessly, experts said.
“In home pools, people get really comfortable with their surroundings, and so you kind of let your guard down a little bit,” said Claudia Romo, a health educator at Children’s Medical Center.
Never letting down their guard is the message that Dr. Steven Crow, a Richardson pediatrician, hammers home to parents. After losing nine children in his practice to drowning over 15 years, he began discussing the dangers of water with parents of 18-month-olds.
Parents should “never leave their kid at a home where there’s a pool,” said Dr. Crow, who added that he has not lost a child since he began lecturing the adults 15 years ago. “If they’re not there, their kid shouldn’t be there. And if they are there, they should be watching their kid.”
Dr. Crow stresses that parents should never allow other people, even family members, to care for their children around water and they should always accompany children to events where swimming is involved. He cautions that attentive parents still make mistakes, noting that one of his patients who nearly drowned is the child of another pediatrician. He also warns parents that although children are most likely to drown in pools, they also find danger all over the house, including bathtubs and toilets.
Said Dr. Sheehan: “It takes almost no water for children to drown.”
Children’s Medical Center has partnered with the YMCA of Dallas, American Red Cross Dallas and a hospital-based injury-prevention coalition to teach the public about water safety through a program called “Know Before You Go.”
The organizations have staged mock drownings at Lake Lewisville and the Cornerstone Chase apartment complex in Dallas to illustrate how the accidents unfold in both lakes and pools.
As part of “Know Before You Go,” Dallas police Officer Joe Gomez is sharing the story about his 3-year-old son, Christopher, who slipped under water in a hotel hot tub earlier this year while in his grandfather’s care.
“We were trying to relay a message about how fast these things can happen and that everybody’s vulnerable to it,” Officer Gomez said. Although an adult was nearby, “nobody even saw it happen” and the boy was not breathing when he was pulled from the water.
While Christopher suffered no permanent physical damage, “he gets a little freaked out when he’s around pools of water,” Officer Gomez said, adding that the child now refers to pools as “black holes.”
As a part of keeping kids safe around pools, Ms. Romo and others encourage homeowners to install “layers of protection,” which include fencing around all sides of the pool, double-latching gates, power safety pool covers and pool alarms.
“The kiss of death in Dallas is the unfenced pool and the sliding glass door,” Dr. Crow said.
When the pool is not being used, toys and rafts should be kept out of the water so children are less tempted to jump in, said Betsy Edmond, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross’ Dallas chapter.
Educators in the “Know Before You Go” program advocate the use of a “water-watcher,” an adult whose sole responsibility is to watch children in the water. Even when multiple adults are present, they can get distracted if they are socializing.
“Somebody always thinks someone else is watching the children,” said Paula Yuma, injury prevention program manager at Children’s Medical Center. “It can take less than 20 seconds for a child to become fully submerged.”
The Red Cross recommends that pool areas be equipped with safety equipment, like a pole, rope and personal floatation device, as well as instructions on performing CPR. A phone should be kept nearby in case of emergency. And adults should know to “absolutely check the pool first” if a child goes missing, Ms. Edmond said.
Ms. Romo said children are generally ready for swimming lessons at age 5. Before then, they should use a personal flotation device approved by the U.S. Coast Guard. Parents should note the difference between approved life jackets and other devices, like water wings, that aren’t meant to save lives.
On lakes, children under 13 are required to wear life jackets, said Robert E. Nelson II, spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. But adults may avoid them, usually saying that they’re uncomfortable.
Mr. Nelson said newer life jackets that thin and inflate only when they touch water are more expensive, but more comfortable. He pointed out that in most drowning incidents, the victim is within 12 feet of safety.
Mr. Nelson compares the campaign to promote life jackets to the successful crusade to get people to use seat belts. He said the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary wants life jackets to become as commonplace as seat belts, and is attempting to get boating and fishing trade magazines to portray more people wearing them.
“Wear a life jacket,” Capt. Collins said. “It floats and you don’t.”
And don’t mix booze and boats. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, alcohol is involved in 30 percent to 50 percent of adolescent and adult drowning incidents.
Capt. Collins said alcohol gives people a “Superman” mentality, and they tend to overestimate their abilities, make bad decisions and tire faster.
No matter how many drowning victims Dr. Sheehan treats, the process never gets easier.
“People don’t get immune to the sort of sadness of all this, which is good because it keeps us human,” she said.
The parents of children who drowned often endure more feelings of anger and guilt than moms and dads of other accident victims because they wish they had done something differently.
“It’s so hard to live with yourself if someone has drowned,” Dr. Sheehan said, “and it’s completely preventable.”
Reporting: Dangers of Drowning, The Dallas Morning News
July 6, 2006
