The City of Tampa, the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County and community partners urge residents to keep kids safe around water.
Accidental child drowning is a tragedy that parents and caregivers think won’t happen to their family, but sadly far too many children have died from this 100% preventable child death. This Memorial Day weekend and throughout the year, the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County and our community partners are urging parents and caregivers to keep kids safe around water.
“Eight children in Hillsborough County accidentally drowned in 2022, which is far too many. Parents and caregivers need to take precautions to prevent this tragedy from happening to their family,” said Kelley Parris, Executive Director of The Children’s Board of Hillsborough County. “Supervision is key but ensuring there are other barriers like fences or door alarms, is equally fundamental to preventing children from accessing water.”
In addition, when near water, we urge parents to designate a “water watcher” – an adult who is free of distractions and responsible for watching children. Contrary to what many may think, drowning is silent and fast; when a child is drowning, there is no commotion, there is no noise. Drowning can happen in as little as 20 seconds. In today’s world of nonstop activities and distractions, constant supervision is more important than ever to protect our children from drowning.
69% of all child drownings occur during non-swimming times, two in three kids who drowned in a pool were last seen in the house. Many children drown in residential pools, that’s not the only place it can occur; it can also happen at the beach, retention ponds, bathtubs, buckets, toilets, even a pet’s water dish —anywhere with as little as one inch of water.
About The Children’s Board of Hillsborough County:
The Children’s Board’s mission is to invest in quality programs to support the success of all children and families in Hillsborough County. We invest in programs and services that ensure children are healthy and safe, developmentally on track, have family support, and are ready to learn and succeed. In 2022, the Children’s Board invested 50 million dollars in grants to over 66 nonprofits and 110 different programs that help children and families.