Articles Posted in Swimming Pool Accidents

A 4-year-old Stanton boy drowned in his backyard pool Tuesday night after wandering away from the rest of the family, according to an article published in The Orange County Register.

Jose Ornelas went missing just before 9 p.m. while at least one of the boy’s parents and several other children were in the home in the 7700 block of Yorkshire Avenue, officials told the Register. Family members began searching the house and back yard and found the boy at the bottom of the pool. Firefighters from the Orange County Fire Authority and Orange County sheriff’s deputies went to the home but were unable to revive the boy, who wasn’t breathing when he left the house, according to the article.

Jose was taken to the West Anaheim Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Officials said that there was no fence around the pool. The Sheriff’s Department homicide unit is investigating the death, which is a standard procedure for any suspicious death, but officials said that it was most likely an accidental drowning. This is the third Orange County pool drowning in two months. Last month, a 2-year-old boy and his 21-month-old cousin died after falling in a murky backyard pool in Garden Grove.
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Two toddlers, an 18-month-old girl and a 3-year-old boy, drowned Wednesday night in a family pool in Mesa, Ariz., according to a news report in The Arizona Republic Newspaper Friday. These are the third and fourth child drowning victims in three days in Mesa. The double tragedy happened a little before 7 p.m. when the children were found by the girl’s aunt and uncle, who said they had been watching television and lost track of time, officials told the newspaper.

The boy was found floating in the pool and the girl was submerged. They were not immediately identified. The boy was described as a family friend. Police said the pool had a fence and a gate, but that officials are still unsure about how the children got to the pool.
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Two young brothers were pulled unconscious from a murky backyard pool Saturday, and one died later while the other was hospitalized in critical condition, according to a news report by the Associated Press posted on Newsday’s Web site.

The boys’ grandmother found the 5-year-old boy floating in the pool Saturday afternoon at the family home in the Walnut Park area south of downtown, sheriff’s officials said. The boys’ father pulled him out and tried to resuscitate him, before realizing his 3-year-old son was also missing. The father eventually found the younger boy, Jonathon Verdugo, just below the surface, but he and paramedics were unable to resuscitate him, sheriff’s officials said. Jonathan died Sunday and the 5-year-old, whose name was not released, was in critical condition, the sheriff’s department said.

A swimming pool in the yard can be very dangerous for children. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that you do not put a swimming pool in your yard until your children are older than 5 years. If you already have a pool, protect your children from drowning by doing the following:

• Never leave your children alone in or near the pool, even for a moment.
• You must put up a fence to separate your house from the pool. Most young children who drown in pools wander out of the house and fall into the pool. Install a fence at least 4 feet high around all 4 sides of the pool. This fence will completely separate the pool from the house and play area of the yard. Use gates that self-close and self-latch, with latches higher than your children’s reach.
• A power safety cover that meets the standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) adds to the protection of your children but should not be used in place of the fence between your house and the pool. Even fencing around your pool and using a power safety cover will not prevent all drowning accidents.
• Keep rescue equipment (such as a shepherd’s hook or life preserver) and a telephone by the pool.
• Do not let your child use air-filled “swimming aids” because they are not a substitute for approved life vests and can be dangerous.
• Anyone watching young children around a pool should learn CPR and be able to rescue a child if needed. Stay within an arm’s length of your child.
• Remove all toys from the pool after use so children aren’t tempted to reach for them.
• After the children are done swimming, secure the pool so they can’t get back into it.
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