A South Florida swim school is urging water safety after two small children nearly drowned in Fort Lauderdale this weekend. Both incidents involved kids under three, and both needed CPR.
Parents and swimming instructors told CBS News Miami that getting children at ease in the water at an early age can be a big benefit.
The sooner, the better, parents say
Daniela Egues wanted her daughter Emilia to learn the ways of the water as early as possible.
“We started the moment that she was able to get into classes like this, so she’s been in swimming classes since six months,” Egues said.
She wants her daughter to get comfortable in the water before she learns how to swim on her own.
“Get her accustomed to the water and respect the water, understand her limits, [and] respect the boundaries,” Egues said.
Egues was at a Sunday swim lesson at OcaQuatics, where they are urging swimming safety after two children under three years old both had to be saved from pools on Saturday in Fort Lauderdale.
Two near drownings in one day spark water safety urgency
The first incident involved a two-year-old saved from the pool at the Sheraton Hotel, and another incident involved a one-year-old found at a pool at the corner of Northeast 35th Court and Bay View Drive.
Both children needed CPR and were taken to Broward Health. Officials haven’t said if foul play or negligence played a role in the near drownings.
Children can learn life-saving skills at any age
Florida is often one of the nation’s leaders in child drowning deaths. And the CDC found that drowning is the leading cause of death for children in the age range of one to four.
OcaQuatics founder Miren Oca told CBS News Miami that children under three can still learn self-saving skills.
“They know how to hold their breath if they were to fall in the water, they know how to return to the side of the pool,” Oca said. “If they turn around and grab the wall instead of swimming out to the middle. And we also work on back floating as a skill. Children under three can totally do that.”
Oca said that it’s still vital to have someone nearby to supervise toddlers or infants in the water.
“Arms’ length away is what we like to say because you never know what they’re going to do,” Oca said. “You never know when they’re gonna choose to jump into the pool.”
Oca also teaches older children how to help save someone in the water from the side.
As for the near drownings, officials haven’t given any updates on the conditions of the two children saved from the pools.
