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5-year-old drowns in community pool
By Stephanie Flemmons, Staff Writer
A 5-year-old girl was pronounced dead from an apparent drowning in a West Plano community pool Tuesday evening.
According to Peggy Harrell, Plano Fire Department spokeswoman, the child was found inside of a hot tub. When paramedics arrived, bystanders had attempted resuscitation efforts.
Paramedics took over care and transported the child to the Medical Center of Plano. She was pronounced dead just after 9 p.m.
Harrell said the parent was present and told crews the child was last seen walking toward the baby pool.
“Our best speculation is the child got the baby pool and the hot tub mixed up,” Harrell said. “We are unsure how long the child was missing.”
Harrell said at least one drowning occurs every summer in Plano.
“It can take only seconds for a child to drown and be in danger of dying,” she said. “A child can drown in as little as two inches of water.”
Harrell said children should always wear coast guard-approved flotation devices, like a vest that fits snuggly when around water. She said water wings and anything inflatable are not considered flotation devices.
“You cannot take your eyes off you child anywhere around water,” Harrell said. “Even if they’ve had swimming lessons, that does not mean they are good swimmers. They can still drown. It’s a fallacy, people don’t envision their child drowning, but all it takes is for the eyes to drift away for a few seconds, and that’s it.”
Harrell urges parents to set up a “water watcher,” securing supervision of a child near water at all times.
“In many cases, mom thinks dad is watching their child and dad thinks mom is watching their child when in reality no one is,” she said. “It is very important to know for certain your child is being watched at all times, and when the person assigned to them is finished, someone else takes over the task.”
Harrell said when someone is involved in an incident where a child goes missing around water, it is important to check the pool first.
To view the Plano Fire Department’s water safety tips, visit: plano.gov, click on departments, then fire and scroll to the bottom of the Web site to access the links or visit the following links: pdf.plano.gov/fire/docs/wschecklist2005.pdf or: pdf.plano.gov/fire/watersafety.pdf.
Contact Stephanie Flemmons at: sflemmons@acnpapers.com.
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