The summer season is a special one for families. Older children are out of school and younger children can enjoy being outdoors with their families. For many people, summer especially means swimming—in pools, lakes, rivers, and the ocean. Along with the special pleasures that summertime weather affords, however, comes an increased level of risk.

Every year, hundreds of children drown and thousands end up in hospital emergency rooms because of submersion in water. In fact, in California, Arizona, and Florida, where swimming pools are common, drowning is the leading cause of accidental death in and around the home for children under the age five. A child can drown in as little as an inch of water and will lose consciousness after only two minutes underwater. Irreversible brain damage occurs within four to six minutes.

One of the most unsettling statistics about child drownings is that nearly half of the drowning victims were last seen in the house before the accident happened, and almost a quarter of them were last seen on a porch, patio, or in the yard. Thus, almost 70% of all child drowning victims were not expected to be in or around the pool at the time of the accident.

Even more disturbingly, 77% of swimming pool accident victims had been missing for fewer than five minutes. So, by the time a parent notices that his or her child is missing, the child may have already drowned. Parents should always keep in mind is that these drownings can occur in a matter of minutes. Since these drownings are often silent, not accompanied by splashing or screaming, parents are given no alarm that something is wrong.

The Hidden Danger at the Bottom of your Pool and Hot Tub

In addition to the threat of drowning by accidental submersion, entrapment in a pool or hot tub drain is another risk. Entrapment occurs when a child’s body becomes attached to a drain because of its powerful suctioning. Entrapment can also occur when a child’s bathing suit or hair becomes entangled in the drain or other underwater object, such as a ladder.

The danger of entrapment was given national attention in 2002 when former Secretary of State’s James Baker’s granddaughter, Graeme, drowned in a hot tub at a family friend’s graduation party. She was discovered almost immediately by her older sister and mother, but they couldn’t pull her to the surface. Finally two adult men were able to free her body by breaking the hot tub’s drain cover, but she had already drowned. Seven-year-old Graeme was a strong swimmer who had been swimming unassisted since she was three years old and who was a member of a swimming and diving team. Nonetheless, she was unable to resist the powerful suction of the tub’s drain when it trapped her under the water.

Parents should also keep in mind that toddlers are at special risk for drowning and entrapment. Any parent can attest to the fact that toddlers are curious and impulsive, and they can vanish from sight in a matter of moments.

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