'Drowning is preventable.' Swim experts preach water safety after multiple drowning deaths
Last week, a 5-year-old drowned at Indian Well State Park in Shelton, and a 2-year-old from Fairfield remains on life support after being pulled from a pool near Black Rock Turnpike.
More Stories
Swim experts are trying to prevent the next drowning death in Connecticut.
Last week, a 5-year-old drowned at Indian Well State Park in Shelton, and a 2-year-old from Fairfield remains on life support after being pulled from a pool near Black Rock Turnpike.
“Drowning is preventable," says Laurie Houseknecht, of Stewie the Duck Swim School in Norwalk. "Put the phone down, make sure there’s a water-watcher, and put the kids in coast guard-approved life jackets."
Meantime in Greenwich, the ZAC Foundation recently helped sound the alarm on a massive above-ground swimming pool recall, after safety officials say a design-flaw led to at least nine drowning deaths.
"Eighteen months ago, we became aware that these pieces of tape were being used to keep the shape of the pool in place," says executive director Megan Ferraro. "But those pieces of tape were actually being used as a ledge or a foothold for young children to climb up on and get into a pool."
The state office of the chief medical examiner claims 48 people in Connecticut have died from drowning since 2021.
Ferraro says she’s hoping parents take the pool recall seriously.
"If you have a pool, whether it's above-ground or an in-ground pool, we want you to have a four-sided isolation fence around that swimming pool."
