After Boy Nearly Drowns in Greenwich, New Canaan Police Chief Urges Pool Safety

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Following the near-drowning Monday afternoon of a 5-year-old Greenwich boy at a pool party, New Canaan’s police chief is urging residents to familiarize themselves with pool safety precautions.

Though New Canaan thankfully hasn’t had an accidental death of a child in a pool in many years, it’s critical for those who have pools on their property or use them to understand basic safety, Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said.

“We have a lot of pools in New Canaan, and this frankly is a safety issue,” Krolikowski said.

The boy in Greenwich had been at a pool party attended by five mothers and their children, according to an article in Greenwich Free Press.

One of those mothers was CPR-trained and administered CPR. It happened around 2:30 p.m.

The American Red Cross offers training, including in CPR (searchable by location—information here) as well as a Home Pool Safety online course and website in partnership with the National Swimming Pool Foundation. The two-hour, online course offers important information for people who own pools or hot tubs. Additionally, readers can find information here on beach safety, home pool safety and general swim safety.

Here are pool safety tips from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission:

  • Always watch your children when they are in or near a pool or spa
  • Teach children basic water safety tips
  • Keep children away from pool drains, pipes and other openings to avoid entrapments
  • Have a portable telephone close by at all times when you or your family are using a pool or spa
  • If a child is missing, look for him or her in the pool or spa first
  • Share safety instructions with family, friends and neighbors
  • Learn how to swim and teach your child how to swim
  • Learn to perform CPR on children and adults, and update those skills regularly
  • Understand the basics of life-saving so that you can assist in a pool emergency
  • Install a four-foot or taller fence around the pool and spa and use self-closing and self-latching gates; ask your neighbors to do the same at their pools.
  • Install and use a lockable safety cover on your spa.
  • If your house serves as a fourth side of a fence around a pool, install door alarms and always use them. For additional protection, install window guards on windows facing pools or spas.
  • Install pool and gate alarms to alert you when children go near the water
  • Ensure any pool and spa you use has compliant drain covers, and ask your pool service provider if you do not know
  • Maintain pool and spa covers in good working order
  • Consider using a surface wave or underwater alarm

From the Greenwich Free Press article:

Eight children were outdoors in the pool area at the time of the incident ranging in age from 5 to 8 years of age. The victim was not wearing a flotation vest but had been using a “noodle” pool toy to stay above the water throughout the afternoon.

At the time of the near drowning, the mothers were inside eating lunch and watching the children through the window when the victim’s mother suddenly ran outside because she said she couldn’t see her son anymore. The boy was located below the water line in the deep end of the pool.

More info here on Greenwich Free Press.

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