There are quaint stories about children who wander, including Dorothy landing in Oz, Alice slipping through a looking glass, and a number of children walking through a wardrobe into Narnia. Thing is, in each of these tales, wandering children end up in life and death situations. In proverbial real world, children even younger than those featured in these stories wander and end up in dire situations. This includes many instances of child drowning accidents each and every year.
Life and Death Threats to Wandering Children
According to the National Institutes of Health, there are a number of more commonplace risks faced by wandering children. These include:
- Drowning
- Being struck by a motor vehicle
- Falling
- Hypothermia
- Dehydration
- Victimization and assault
In this article, we take a closer look a child drowning accidents and what we can do to prevent them.
Water Hazards and Wandering Children
Water hazards are a particular danger to wandering children in the United States. These include open bodies of water (ponds, lakes, streams, oceans) as well as swimming pools.
You must keep this crucial statistic in mind: The leading cause of death for children between the ages of one and four are drowning accidents.
(U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
The CDC also reports that the second leading cause of death for children between the ages five and 14 are drowning accidents. More child drowning accidents occur in swimming pools. However, an alarming number of child drowning accidents also occur in natural bodies of water like ponds, lakes, streams, and oceans.
There is another crucial fact to bear in mind about child swimming pool drowning accidents. Nearly all child swimming pool accidents were preventable – they simply did not have to occur in the first place.
Protecting Swimming Pools from Unsupervised Child Entry
A major strategy that needs to be universally adopted is to properly protect pools from unsupervised child entry. There are specific steps that need to be taken around all pools to protect against the unsupervised entry of children, including wandering youngsters.
- First, surround the entire pool with a solid fence that is between six to eight feet in height.
- Second, install a self-latching, locking entry gate in the fence to the pool area.
- Third, add an alarm to the entry gate that alerts if it is somehow opened when the pool is closed.
- Fourth, install an alarm in the pool itself that alerts if something or someone enters the water when the pool is closed.
- Fifth, add a sturdy pool cover that can be tightly closed when the pool is not in use.
- Sixth, consider the material used for the pool deck, selecting something that reduces slipping
Importance of Swimming Lessons for Children
Many swimming instructors indicate that children really cannot learn to swim before the age of five. On the other hand, there is growing evidence that while children under five are usually not able master all basic swimming techniques, there is a benefit to getting them in the water sooner rather than later. Young children exposed to swimming lessons under the age of five have been shown to be more adept at getting themselves out of harm’s way if they fall into a swimming pool.
Legal Rights After a Child Drowning Accident
If you’re the parents of a child who died in a fatal swimming pool drowning accident, the legal team at The Doan Law Firm is here for you. Similarly, if your child suffered serious injuries in drowning accident, we can explain the important legal rights of you and your child. You can reach our law firm any time of the day or night by calling us at (800) 349-0000.
A nationwide law firm, we can schedule an initial consultation with a child drowning accident lawyer. at any one of our 40 offices across the country. We can also meet with you at your home, any other location convenient and comfortable for you, as well as online. There is no charge for an initial consultation with a Doan Law Firm child drowning accident lawyer.
The Doan Law Firm Attorney Fee Guarantee
The Doan Law Firm will never charge a fee in a child drowning accident case unless we win for you.
