A Season Ripe for Tragedy

The days of summer turn swimming pools, lakes and lagoons into magnets, especially for children. They can be a time of danger, deserving of the grim label that some rescue workers give to June through August: “the drowning season.”

Three years ago, more than a dozen children age 5 or younger drowned in Orange County. That spurred action. Children’s Hospital of Orange County helped create a Drowning Prevention Network, whose members have done good work in educating people about how to prevent these tragedies.

The number of drownings dropped in the last two years, according to figures compiled by the network. But it has risen again this year, enough so that one county Fire Authority official has called the current series of such accidents “an epidemic.” More than half a dozen youngsters 5 or younger have drowned so far in 1996, with the year not yet two-thirds over.

The Board of Supervisors last year rightly amended the Orange County building code to require that new backyard pools in unincorporated areas be fenced on all four sides or have alarms or covers. But pool safety experts say only a handful of the county’s 31 cities have similar codes. That is too few.

All cities need the regulations. They are not unduly burdensome to homeowners. They affect only new pools, though homeowners with existing pools would be wise to take safety measures.

The main burden of preventing drownings is on parents or other adults who are near the water when children are present. Parents of drowned children nearly always talk about how suddenly the accident happened. Just leaving for a moment to answer the phone or get a tool in the garage can provide enough time for tragedy.

Doctors say very young children who barely escaped drowning report they did not understand the danger even as they were about to drown; they spoke of falling asleep in the water. Thus there usually is no cry for help.

Children cannot be watched around the clock. But the price of inattention when a child is at a pool can be enormous. Some pool parties feature adults wearing plastic tags on chains around their necks designating them “water watchers.” They take the tag off only after finding another adult to take the responsibility. There is no substitute for fencing off pools and for strict attention to the young when they are allowed to go in or near the water.