April Pools Day raises awareness of drowning dangers.

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One of the leading reasons of accidental death for children less than four years of age in Southern Nevada is water-related incidents that result in drowning. Southern Nevada had nine fatal drowning incidents in 2015 — the most since 2009 — and the Southern Nevada Child Drowning Prevention Coalition is doing something about it with its April Pools Day event. The coalition joined Henderson, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Clark County at the Henderson Multigenerational Center activity pool on March 31 to bring awareness to the community about the dangers of drowning and how it can be prevented. Southern Nevada elected officials, including members of the Henderson and North Las Vegas City Councils and the Clark County Commission, spoke about the importance of water safety. A mock drowning and rescue demonstration showed the importance of water safety and preparedness. "Drownings are a concern all year in our community but the risks increase as the weather warms up and swimming pools become a popular pastime for children and families," said Commissioner Susan Brager, an active member of the Drowning Prevention Coalition. "Water safety awareness and education can help to prevent drowning and water-related injuries," said Coalition Chairman Greg Blackburn. "The event aims to educate parents that drowning is not like in the movies. It is a natural reaction to breathe, small children don't exhale and scream for help, they just sink and quietly disappear." Blackburn stresses that people learn the ABC&D's of drowning prevention: A = Adult supervision constantly, including hiring lifeguards for pool parties. B = Barriers like perimeter fences and securing doggy doors so children can't crawl through. C = Classes, including swim lessons and CPR. D = Devices such as life jackets and rescue tools. The Southern Nevada Chapter of ICC (SN-ICC) is donating $19,000 to drowning prevention efforts this year. The Chapter established the program in 2009 to provide the local parks and recreation departments of each city and county government in Southern Nevada with $1,500 grants to offer free swimming lessons for toddlers age four years old and younger. SN-ICC members believe it is time to do whatever can be done to reduce future occurrences of such drowning deaths and recognize that teaching toddlers to swim is one of the best ways to reduce such occurrences. Last year, the Code Council partnered with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) Pool Safely Campaign to increase visibility among Americans about pool and spa safety. Pool Safely is the national public education initiative that raises awareness about drowning prevention and entrapment incidents to save children's lives in pools and spas. Specifically, Pool Safely supports Section 1407 of the Virginia Graeme Baker Act — named after the seven-year-old granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker III who drowned after she was trapped under water by the powerful suction from a spa drain — which calls for the creation of an education and media campaign that will serve as a call to action for child drowning and drain entrapment prevention among consumers and the pool and spa industry. "Nearly 400 pool and spa drownings occur in the U.S. each year involving children younger than 15 years old," explained ICC CEO Dominic Sims, CBO. "These troubling statistics were among the guiding principles in the development of the International Swimming Pool & Spa Code. This is a great opportunity for our association to partner with CPSC to help educate the public about protecting children from accidents that can be prevented through the adoption of safety codes and standards."