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Keep kids safe this summer with these drowning prevention tips

Drowning is a leading cause of death among children, including infants and toddlers.

Parents have been hearing a lot lately in the news about dry drowning, and unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation out there. Dr. Erica Michiels, Associate Director for the Pediatric Emergency Department at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, says she has seen many families coming into the emergency department concerned about dry drowning. She shares that the chances of such a thing happening to your little ones is extremely rare. She joined us to talk about some drowning prevention techniques for your family.

Drowning is a leading cause of death among children, including infants and toddlers. However, there’s a difference between drowning and dry drowning. Dr. Michiels says the term dry drowning is confusing – often used to describe several different conditions. Her advice is that parents need to know if their children had an event in the water and had any difficulty breathing, coughing, etc. They should then seek medical attention. However, if parents are not seeing any symptoms within the first 24 hours of the event, she says they won’t see any.

Dr. Michiels also says most infant drownings occur in bathtubs and buckets, while toddlers between one and four years most commonly drown in swimming pools. Many children in this age group do also drown in ponds, rivers, and lakes.

What can parents do? Dr. Michiels says parents need to be aware that children can drown in a very small amount of water – even in a bathtub or kiddie pool. These accidents often occur from lack of supervision and happen fast, so it’s best if parents take the following steps below.

Be a water watcher – Always have an adult watching children in the water

Provide children with life jackets, if they're not confident swimmers

Lead by example – Never mix drugs and alcohol with water recreation

Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Pediatric Emergency Department is open 24/7 for families. For more information on keeping your loved ones safe, visit helendevoschildrens.org or call 866-989-7999.

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