Holiday heightens drowning awareness

Joe Noble, a fire-plan checker for the Clark County Fire Department, had an above-ground pool installed for his children to enjoy.

Although he and his wife removed the outside ladder so their children couldn't get into the pool unattended, it wasn't enough to protect their 18-month-old son, Timmy, from falling in.

In June 1988, Timmy, who had been playing in the backyard with three other children, was found unconscious in the pool.

"He had climbed onto the tubing on the side of the pool and onto the filter, then fell in," Noble said. "Drownings or near-drownings are silent; the kids just slip into the pool. You don't hear a scream -- and they're so small that you don't hear a splash."

Although his wife, who was home at the time, applied CPR immediately, Timmy wasn't revived until 45 minutes later at University Medical Center. Six weeks later he came home, with tracheotomy equipment attached to his neck to keep his lungs from filling with fluid and a gastrotomy tube for feeding.

Nobel took the pool down the day after the incident.

"Looking back, it's a lot easier in the long run to not have a pool and drive the kids two or three miles to a pool," he said.

Timmy died 8 1/2 years later at home from lung complications.

Nevada is one of the top five states in the number of drowning or near- drowning incidents, Noble said.

There have been nine submersions and two fatalities so far this year, Bob Leinbach, spokesperson for the Clark County Fire Department, said. In 1997 there were 50 submersions and 4 fatalities.

Leinbach said that with Memorial Day weekend marking the unofficial kickoff of summer, drownings will be more frequent.

Noble described three outcomes from a near-drowning or drowning:

"They (the victim) can be found and pulled out immediately. They can be in the water too long and die, or be stuck in no man's land -- not dead, but with severe brain trauma. The brain damage can be minimal to extremely major.

"What you're left with isn't what you started with. Timmy could no longer run, walk or speak. He couldn't even roll over on his own and was unaware of his surroundings."

Leinbach said that someone who finds an unresponsive child in a pool first should try CPR, then get someone to call 911.

"If you don't know CPR, then the dispatcher will give pre-arrival instructions until the fire department gets there, but it's not as good as CPR," he said. "Once the brain stops getting oxygen, you start to die. It's just a matter of minutes."

Leinbach said 90 percent of all drownings or near drownings occur in in private pools.

While the risk of drowning is high whenever there is the combination of a pool and small children, Leinbach said parents can take safety precautions:

* Install a fence with a latched door around the pool.

* Make sure that all doors and windows leading to the pool area are secured, including doggie doors and sliding doors.

* Equip doors with motion sensors that sound when a child goes outside.

* Don't leave in the water or near the edge of the pool any toys that would attract a small child.

* If there is a fence around the pool, do not leave near the fence a toy or table that a child could use to climb over.

* Have rescue equipment near the pool, including a reaching device.

* Learn CPR.

"The critical thing is to keep the child in sight. Constant supervision is the key," Leinbach said. "The danger occurs when there is a distraction such as a phone call, the TV or a visitor at the door. The majority of incidents happen when the parent is not nearby."

Noble said the best precaution is to not have a pool if you have small children.

"You wouldn't want to have a fire in your backyard; why have a pool?" he said.

Leinbach said the most typical victim of a drowning or near-drowning is a 3-year-old boy. Sixty percent of drowning or near-drowning victims are boys. Three-fourths are 3 years old or younger, and the majority of the cases occur in the afternoon.

Leinbach said the top precaution is to acknowledge the reality that it can happen, adding that drownings or near-drownings happen more to the traditional all-American family.

Steve La-Sky, spokesman for the Clark County Fire Department, said if residents with children don't put a fence around a pool, then they shouldn't put in a pool at all. He added that in most drowning cases, there is no barrier around the pool.

Nobel and his wife formed FOND, an organization for families of near-drowning victims. FOND started out as a support group but has since turned into an on-call immediate support system for hospitals to call when families need the help.

"The most important thing for a family (of a drowning victim) to know is that it's nobody's fault."

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