ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La. (WGNO) — The St. Tammany Parish coroner confirmed a seven-year-old boy fatally drowned at someone’s home in Slidell Saturday morning.
Data shows drowning is a leading cause of death for children.
“When we see situations, particularly like these accidental drownings, the parents are just devastated,” St. Tammany Parish Coroner Dr. Charles Preston said.
Preston says that’s why it’s so important his office isn’t just reacting to these tragedies but helping prevent them.
The coroner’s office offers a free water safety program, which includes education but also a prop.
“A lanyard that is the designated pool watcher and has the steps right there,” Preston explained. “You must be sober, you must have a working cell phone in your hand, and whoever has that lanyard has no other tasks but to watch that pool.”
Another hazard is nonfatal drownings.
Brendt Madden’s daughter nearly lost her life while swimming in a pool.
“I thought maybe she had gone inside. I looked inside and I didn’t see her. Then, I had just a sinking feeling in my stomach that something was wrong,” Madden said. “I went close to the pool, and right just feet away from me, her hair had become entangled in a drain.”
Madden got her out the pool and immediately did CPR, which helped her daughter regain her pulse.
Because of that experience, Madden now promotes the importance of education.
“Getting those chest compressions in, getting oxygen to the drowning victims, rescue breathing, those are all important things and really taking a simple CPR course for resuscitation is doable,” Madden said.
The American Heart Association is among the organizations that offer those courses.
For more information about the coroner’s water safety program, call their office at (985)-781-1150 or email at info@stpco.org.
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