Schumer urges probe of drownings
ALBANY, N.Y. » With summertime in full swing, U. S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, released the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, which reveals that when it comes to fatal drownings and toddlers, numbers have climbed — and toddler boys remain at dramatically greater risk than girls.
“This new report takes a look at the latest data we have on drownings amongst toddlers and finds that when it comes to fatal drownings, numbers have climbed—and toddler boys are at dramatically greater risk for death,” Schumer said in a news release. “That is why, amidst the most popular months for swimming and the dog days of summer that find more and more kids in and around pools and other bodies of water, we must sound the alarm on this trend and demand new action from the federal government.
“The CDC should be commended for keeping these detailed records, but what good is the data unless we use it to save lives? So, today, I am urging the CDC to use my report to investigate the rising trend of toddler drownings and then develop a special outreach campaign to reach the parents of children who are in the age range of 0- 4 years.”
According to the CDC, three children drown every day in the United States and the leading cause of death for children under five is drowning. Moreover, every year, there is an average of 3,600 near-drowning injuries among children ages one to four.
Schumer’s report zeroes in on these youngest toddler years of 0- 4 and finds a general increase in overall fatalities, as well as finding that toddler boys succumbed to drowning accidents at more than double the rate of toddler girls.
In light of this new report, Schumer is urging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the rates of toddler drownings that occur in the 0- 4 year age group, especially those of young males. Schumer recently sent a letter to the CDC urging them to investigate the main causes of drowning in the young population.
Schumer said he is also pushing the CDC to develop an outreach campaign that better reaches the parents of toddlers, and to make a special effort to reach the parents of toddler males. Schumer says, the CDC might even consider a more direct outreach effort before new parents even leave the hospital with their baby.
According to Schumer’s report and fully-verified CDC data between 201416, the majority of toddler drowning deaths are among males. These young boys are drowning at more than twice the rate of females. Schumer says the ratio of male-to-female drowning must be rigorously investigated by the CDC and that if this ratio is to improve, a robust federally-led outreach plan must be put in place to better reach the parents of young toddler males.
Schumer pointed to a particular painful and tragic New York death that occurred last summer on Long Island as an example of why this report and its new revelations demand action.
Schumer said that according to media reports, two three-year- old twin boys were found in the pool of their Suffolk County home. News reports detailed that medics from the Melville Volunteer Fire Department rushed the twins to Plainview Hospital in critical condition but that they died at the hospital a short time later.
“It is tragic accidents like this, of toddler kids, that put a giant hole in your heart and should spur us to do all we can at the federal level to keep such young lives from being lost to drowning,” said Schumer.