Drowning can happen at anytime and in a matter of seconds. The
following real instances illustrate how easy it is for a drowning
to occur, even when adults are present.
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Seventeen-month-old female found floating
in her own residential swimming pool.
Mother thought she had gone into the bedroom where baby-sitter
and younger sibling were playing. Victim exited dwelling through
a sliding screen door.
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Three-year-old male found in relative's
residential swimming pool with two-year old sister.
Aunt and Uncle thought children were in the den with their
mother, mother had fallen asleep, after a long night without
sleep. Victims exited dwelling through a sliding screen door.
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Twenty-one-month-old female found in
family's residential spa with twin brother.
Parents thought children were with baby-sitter downstairs,
while they dressed to go out for the evening. Victims exited
dwelling through a sliding screen door.
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Eighteen-month-old male found in bathtub-shower
combination with his face down over the drain.
He had been playing with his three-year-old sibling
with the shower on. Parent had left the bathroom, and returned
when three-year-old reported that his brother "wont get
up."
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Twelve-month-old male found in friend's
residential swimming pool.
Mother fell asleep on the couch with child sitting next to
her. Child exited dwelling through a doggy door with a three-year-old
sibling. The three-year-old was uninjured.
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Thirty-one-month-old male found in
a neighbor's residential swimming pool.
Child was playing in his own yard with older siblings and
other neighborhood children. Mother was inside her home near
an outside window. The child gained access to the neighbor's
pool through a side gate that was not latched.
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Four-year-old-male found in apartment
swimming pool.
Within feet of father who was also in the pool, distracted
by a seven-year-old sibling. The four-year-old was last seen
in a flotation device, a few feet from father. There were
many people present in the pool and the pool area at the time
of the incident.
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Thirty-two-month-old female found in
own residential swimming pool.
Mother thought she had gone into the bedroom where baby-sitter
and younger sibling were playing. Victim exited dwelling through
a sliding screen door.
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Seventeen-month-old female found floating
in her own residential swimming pool.
Parent observed child wander into garage where grandfather
was working. Grandfather reportedly never saw the child. Child
exited dwelling through an open garage door.
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Three-year-old male found in residential
swimming pool.
Parent left victim strapped in a child seat while she took
infant into the house for a diaper.
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Two-year-old female found in grandparents'
residential swimming pool while visiting.
Child was last seen with "water wings" on arms.
Mother went into house for a glass of iced tea, leaving victim
in the yard with two older (11 and 8) siblings. "Water
wings" were floating in pool deflated. Older children
did not hear or see child enter the water.
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Fourteen-month-old female found in
blow-up wading pool.
Parents were in the house with their four children and noticed
one had slipped away. Victim exited the house through a screen
door.
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Seventeen-month-old male found in own
residential swimming pool.
Mother and grandmother were inside home. Child was last seen
alive playing indoors. Child exited dwelling through sliding
screen door.
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Thirty-month-old male found in the
backyard jacuzzi.
Family had just moved into home one week prior. Fencing material
and gate had been delivered, but no installed yet. Mother
last saw child pedaling a ride-on car; she took seven-month
old into home to change his diaper and was distracted by the
phone ringing.
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Twenty-month-old female found in a
residential swimming pool at the babysitters.
The gate to the pool had been propped open while repairs
were being done. The child was last seen watching a video
with other children. She exited the home through a sliding
screen door.
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Twenty-six-month-old
male found in a residential swimming pool owned by his grandparents,
where he was residing.
A fence had been installed five years previously after
a drowning of a two-year-old in the same pool. The gate did
not have a self-closing and self-locking latch. The parents
were not in the country at the time the incident occurred. The
grandparents had left an 11-year-old in charge of three to four
small children in their absence. The toddler was last seen playing
indoors with other children. He apparently exited from the dwelling
to the pool area through a sliding glass/screen door. |