August 20, 2021

At Sunstar Paramedics one of our missions is aimed at preventing accidental childhood injuries and
deaths. We became members of the Pinellas Suncoast Safe Kids organization over 17 years ago to help
discover what more we could do to lower the risks of accidents for children. During that time, we have
worked on many injury prevention campaigns throughout the community including those that help
prevent childhood drownings.

Florida has an extended swimming and boating season, which makes the odds for drowning even
greater. This year we have seen a significant rise in drownings in Pinellas County. Since June we have
had 22 children who have experienced accidental submersions. Most were males between the ages of 1
and 4 years old and occurred in residential swimming pools. In many cases we discovered that the child
slipped away from the parent and was found in the pool.

We decided it was once again time to take action. We partnered with Largo Fire Rescue and applied for
a Pinellas County EMS grant, to fund a Life Jacket give-away for children. Because of Covid, we choose to
have a drive-thru event so all would remain at a safe distance.

We held the give-away on July 24 th . Members of Sunstar Paramedics, Safe Kids and Largo Fire Rescue
handed out 153 flotation devices along with water safety materials for families in this two-hour event.
The event was covered by local media and information about the give-away was posted on social media.
It was a great success. Many parents stated they were concerned about their children when at the
beach or in a pool and felt that the life jackets would help to avoid a drowning accident. The water
safety packets included information on swim lessons and CPR classes. It also contained water watcher
badges and additional safety information for parents.

There are many things we can do to help prevent accidental drownings. A few are listed below:

• Adult supervision is the most important. Never leave a child unattended near water, not even for a minute.
• Create barriers between the child and the body of water. Barriers include baby gates, doors, alarms, cameras, fences, and any obstacle that will delay the child from making a beeline for the water.
• Swim lessons at an early age and throughout their childhood is also of the upmost importance.
• Life jackets help when the child is boating or playing in or near water, even when in a home pool. What we have learned is that parents can get distracted and children have no fear of the water. Most people think the child will cry out if they get into trouble, but drowning is silent. Once they go under you will not hear them. A life jacket may give the parent or caregiver the extra time to notice their child slipped out of sight and entered the water.
• Learn CPR to be best prepared to provide initial care in a drowning incident.

If you have any questions or would like free material on water safety, please contact Sunstar’s Community Outreach Coordinator: Ccobb@sunstarems.com