CONCORD -- A 2-year-old girl died after she was found unconsciousin her family's backyard swimming pool Thursday evening in whatappears to have been a tragic accident, police said.
The death renewed calls for diligence in monitoring children inand around swimming pools, especially with summer approaching.
'It's heartbreaking every time to hear about it,' said NadinaRiggsbee, founder and president of the Alamo-based DrowningPrevention Foundation, one of the world's longest-standing advocacygroups aimed at promoting safety in residential pools.
Police were called about 5 p.m. to a home on Wexford Drive, saidConcord police Lt. Darrell Graham. He said the 2-year-old girl,identified by the coroner's office as Hannah Spencer, was discoveredin the pool by her parents. Hannah was taken to John Muir MedicalCenter in Concord, where she was pronounced dead.
The pool was fenced, Graham said, and police were investigatinghow the child ended up in the water.
'It does appear accidental,' Graham said.
The Spencer family declined to comment. An official cause ofdeath will not be released until after an autopsy, which isscheduled for Monday. Drowning is one of the leading causes of deathin the U.S. for children under 4 and the second leading cause ofdeath among children ages 1 to 14, according to Riggsbee'sfoundation.
Figures from the state Department of Public Health indicate thatthe number of swimming pool drownings in California involvingchildren under 4 had been rising in recent years -- spiking from 29in 2004 to 49 in 2005 before dropping to 36 in 2007, the last yearfor which complete statistics are available.
In Contra Costa County, two drownings involving young childrenoccurred in 2007 and three were recorded in 2006, according to statefigures. At least two such drownings occurred in 2008, but anofficial tally was not available. Thursday's presumed drowning inConcord is the county's first known instance involving a young childthis year. Riggsbee said most swimming pool drownings involvingyoung children don't occur because of a lack of supervision, or evena lack of safety precautions. Even the most diligent parents aren'tinvulnerable to the risk of a small child getting into a swimmingpool, she said.
'It can just be a momentarily lapse. It's so quick,' saidRiggsbee, whose own child died in a swimming pool drowning.
Constant supervision of children near swimming pools isimportant, Riggsbee said, as is the awareness by parents thatdrownings can occur anywhere, to anyone.Pool safety tips
The Alamo-based Drowning Prevention Foundation recommends aseries of measures to keep children safe around pools: -- Fencepools on all sides with a barrier at least 5 feet high. -- Use self-latching gates, with the latch out of reach to small children. --Keep potential climbing aids such as lawn chairs and long-handledpool cleaning equipment away from fencing.-- Keep a landline phoneat poolside. During emergencies, dispatchers can more quickly tracethe location of a landline phone than a cell phone.
Pool safety resources-- DROWNING PREVENTION FOUNDATION:www.drowningpreventionfoundation.us-- CALIFORNIA DEPT. OF PUBLICHEALTH: www.cdph.ca.gov/HEALTHINFO/INJVIOSAF/Pages/DrowningPrevention.aspx-- U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION:www.poolsafety.gov
