Child Injury Laws - By Jonathan Rosenfeld

Tragedy has stunned a Chicagoland community after a two-year-old girl at a home-based day care drowned when she managed to gain access to a swimming pool at the home.  The child was one of 10 children (7 children from outside the home and 3 of her own) the caregiver was looking after at her home in Aurora, IL.

Just months ago, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) conducted an allegation of neglect at the same operation, and while the neglect allegation was not substantiated--- the owner of the facility was cited for for operating an unlicensed day care facility.

DCFS officials have confirmed that the owner of the day care did apply for a license in June, but the application had not been reviewed and no license was granted at the time of this incident.

Licensing of Day Care Facilities

Most states have licensing regulations for all types of day care facilities.  In Illinois, home day care operators that care for four our more children must be licensed by the state in order to assure that there is sufficient staffing levels in place to properly look after the children.

Would more staffing have prevented this day care tragedy?  The reality is that this tragedy could have occurred under a variety of circumstances-- with any number of caregivers.  However, as a parent I know how demanding looking after two small children can be.  Ten-- I can't even imagine!  No doubt an extra set of eyes couldn't hurt!

While the investigation into this matter continues, I suggest that the state take a much harder line when it comes to the regulation of day care facilities to ensure the safety of all children.  Further regulation of all day care facilities would provide an added level of safety for children and piece of mind for parents. 

Related:

Aurora Day Care Where Toddler Died Had No License, CBSChciago.com

Preventing Institutional Child Abuse By Carefully Selecting A Facility

Understanding The Regulations Pertaining To Day Care Facilities Is Crucial To Protecting Your Child

As a life-long swimmer (age-group, high school, college and masters), the sight of a swimming pool has been a calming source in my life-- both from an athletic and recreational point of view. 

Perhaps because swimming has been such an important part of my life, I was really moved by some of the news stories regarding the increased dangers facing minorities around swimming pools.

When I read a Chicago Tribune article, “What looks like playing might be drowning”, I was reminded of the safety implications related to the risk of drowning facing children.  The article is a real wake-up call and impressed me with how most drowning occurrences have very little of the “Hollywood” crying and thrashing for help scenarios.

In fact, when most drownings involve little warning to lifeguards or parents who are supervising.  Rather, most drownings provide little advance warning as most children are silent during the process and rarely are able to alert swimming pool staff that they need assistance. Without any outward signals, there may be a short period of distress before the silent, self-preservation mode sets in (the brain starts to shut down bodily functions due to lack of oxygen).

As a lifeguard, I witnessed firsthand the importance of paying attention to even the slightest odd movements of a child in the water.  I still remember a day at the beach when we had to rescue a child in the water-- her legs were not kicking but her arms were pushing down in the water trying to push herself out. Her head was bobbing above and beneath the surface of the water with her mouth open to get some oxygen. Thankfully, some of my colleagues were on top of things and quickly reacted to rescued her before she became submerged.

While reading, “Organizations trying to teach more minority children to swim”, a sub-section of the Tribune article referenced above, I learned that there is a much higher prevalence in drowning instances among minorities, mainly Hispanic and African-American children, than whites. The disparities between swimming skills likely stems from the fact that there are higher percentages of Hispanic and African-American children that have limited or no swimming abilities secondary to lack of encouragement from parents who may not be able to swim themselves.

Thankfully, the Chicago Park District has taken notice of the the safety threat and has started free swimming classes through the Make a Splash program.  Unfortunately, the communities where the lessons are most needed didn't respond positively and the classes had very low numbers in attendance.

Swimming Pool Safety For Children

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that in 2007, approximately 870 childrens' deaths by drowning were reported in those under 4 years old. While swimming classes that teach children how to swim will no doubt help reduce these numbers, supervision remains the most important factor in reducing drownings amongst children.

Swimming pool owners and camps and should make sure the following safeguards are in place to improve swimming pool safety:

• Keep the pool staffing with properly trained lifeguards
• Install fences and gates around pools to prevent young children from wandering into the pool
• Discourage older children from swimming with younger children
• Install partitions to keep younger children out of deep water
• Install pool alarms to advise when someone has entered the pool
• Never let anyone swim alone

Related:

Prevention of Drowning in Infants, Children and Adolescents Ruth A. Brenner, MD, MPH and Committee on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention (pdf)

Unintentional Drowning: Fact Sheet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Preventing Children From Drowning in Hotel Swimming Pools by Charlyn Keating Chisholm