More than 70 children drown in Florida as safety experts issue warnings

TAMPA, Fla. - More than 70 Florida children have died by drowning, according to data by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) – which includes several cases in the Tampa Bay area.

Florida Child Drowning Rates

By the numbers:

With 76 drowning deaths already reported this year, experts are worried that the number could continue to climb and potentially surpass last year's number before the warm weather ends.

Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death for children ages 1 to 4 in Florida, according to the state health department.

Florida Drowning Investigation Reports

The backstory:

State data details several tragic water accidents involving young Tampa Bay children that happened when they managed to sneak away undetected while parents were doing routine household tasks.

• Pasco County: In July, a three-year-old was found in a lake in a public park while the family celebrated Fourth of July.
• Polk County: In July, a two-year-old was found in a neighbor’s pool after getting out of her own home undetected.
• Sarasota County: In June, a two-year-old drowned in a family pool after getting outside while her mother was in the bathroom.
• Pinellas County: In March, a one-year-old was found in a pool after getting out of the house while his father tended to an escaped dog.
• Hillsborough County: In February, a one-year-old accessed a bathtub while her mother cleaned broken glass in the kitchen.

"It is devastating for me to hear that we are still losing children this way, because when you see one of your fatal or non-fatal drownings the first time, it will forever change your life," Petra Stanton, injury prevention program manager for Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, said. "And I feel like I will never stop fighting this cause unless we no longer need to fight it."

Local perspective:

In her role with John’s Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, Stanton is in charge of outreach, which includes spreading information to families and organizing community events, including life-jacket giveaways.

Recommendations to families with residential pools include installing barriers, gates, and fences around pools as well as door alarms. Stanton also encourages parents to learn CPR.

"If a child does go missing, check the body of water first," Stanton added. "If you have a residential pool, go there."

What we know:

When it comes to pools at apartment and condo complexes, officials with Hillsborough County Code Enforcement make sure those have the proper barriers and self-closing, self-latching gates required by law.  

While investigators say they’re seeing an average number of code violations this summer, a broken pool barrier is never taken lightly.

"The code calls for having a sufficient barrier around it and a self-closing, self-latching gate to go in and out. The reason for that, obviously, is you don't want someone who shouldn't be there getting in there or a child, something of that nature," Hillsborough County Code Enforcement division director Jon-Paul Lavandeira said. "So that's big for us. That's actually something we consider a life-safety issue. So if we do run into a violation with that, whether it be commercial or even a residential pool, we will give that top priority and rush that to a hearing. And they can expect to see steep fines if they don't get it fixed quick."

Tampa Swim Lesson Vouchers

What you can do:

For the first time, the Tampa YMCA and the Children's Board of Hillsborough County have teamed up to offer vouchers for free group swim lessons to children in Hillsborough County.

"So if you're a Hillsborough County resident, you have a child between the ages of one and 17, you can stop by any YMCA location here in Hillsborough County, and we can give you a voucher for one free group swim lesson session. That's eight 30-minute swim lessons, one per child," Campo Family YMCA aquatics director Paige Sahab said.

YMCA leaders told FOX 13 over 1,000 children have already registered, and they’re working to add additional classes.

"It tells me that the need has always been there. And now that parents are getting access, they're getting these free vouchers, that we're getting more kids in the pool that wouldn't have otherwise been signed up for swim lessons," Sahab said. "And our classes have never been this full. We're getting parents that are coming in who've never been to the Y before. So I think it's fantastic."