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Blog: One Drowning is One Too ManyPosted by: Kate Carr at Jan 17, 2012 12:00 AM CST Keywords: Education
According to a recent study by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the hospitalization rate of children under the age of 19 due to drowning has declined 49 percent. This is great progress, but when you consider that nearly 100 percent of all drowning are preventable, it begs the question: how do we reduce the number of drownings to zero? Policy changes coupled with educational programs, according to the study, are the most effective tools for preventing death and injury due to drowning. That’s what Safe Kids is all about. We want to provide parents, caregivers and kids with the information and tools to be safe in every environment. Safe Kids also advocates at the federal and state level to change policy. One of our public policy successes stems from a drowning tragedy. Seven-year-old Virginia Graeme Baker died because she became entrapped in a hot tub drain and was unable to be pulled free – the force of the suction was that strong. Her mother, Nancy, and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, joined together with Safe Kids to enact the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act of 2007. This federal law provides incentives for states to adopt comprehensive pool safety laws that will protect children from life-threatening injuries and horrible deaths from dangerous pool and spa drains. We’ve come a long way in the past few years and I hope the good news about the decline of children going to the emergency room will be coupled with increased precautions that parents and caregivers can take to keep their kids safe when in the water, at home, at play and on the way. That’s the way we’ll get to zero – in drowning, and in all unintentional injuries and deaths of children. More About Drowning Prevention
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