NBC6’s Heather Walker has the latest on a little girl who was found unresponsive in a pool.
A 7-year-old girl is in critical condition after she was found unresponsive in a swimming pool. It happened at a home in Lauderhill around 9:00 am.
Lauderhill Police and Fire responded to the 911 call for a 7-year-old girl with Down Syndrome found unresponsive in the pool.
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WATCH HEREIn this case, the girl was able to survive thanks in part to family members starting CPR. The circumstances around this incident are unclear. But officials at the YMCA say swim lessons reduce drowning by about 88%.
This little girl is alive, but experts say it only takes a second for a water emergency to occur.
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“Swimming is everyone’s favorite activity and we always want to make sure our kiddos are safe,” said Kyle Kamman with the YMCA.
The South Florida YMCA says drowning is the leading cause of death for children under 4 nationwide with Broward and Miami-Dade Counties leading the country in drowning incidents.
“In the YMCA swim lesson program we teach them what to do if they were to fall into the water and how to safely float on their back and reach the side of the pool,” said Kamman.
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Beyond swim lessons, alarms and barriers can help. There are products like Swam Cam that sound an alarm when motion is detected in the pool. Fencing around a pool adds a layer of safety, but experts say nothing substitutes adult supervision.
“Making sure we have those water watchers those are those adults that are responsible for watching those kiddos while they are in water not being distracted, not on their phone or distracted by those side conversations,” said Kamman.
The YMCA offers swim lessons for kids as young as six months old.
