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Public Safety

Summer Brings Warmth And Risk Of Drowning

Summer Brings Warmth And Risk Of Drowning
Summer brings with it a greater risk of drowning, especially for families with backyard pools.

Summer brings with it a greater risk of drowning, especially for families with backyard pools.

The California Department of Public Health reports drowning is the number one cause of accidental death in San Diego County for children between 1 and 4 years old. Pools pose the greatest risk. Yosina Lissebeck is president of Safe Kids San Diego. She said backyard pools should be surrounded by a non-climbable fence. She said all pool parties that involve children should have a designated pool watcher.

"A lot of the time drownings occur because everybody thinks everybody else is watching," said Lissebeck. "And nobody is. And this way it ensures that there's an adult watching the water at all times. And that's really important, especially with coming up summer parties and pool parties and Memorial Day parties."

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The authors of the book "Freakonomics" found that having a back-yard pool is 100 times more dangerous to children than keeping a gun in the house.

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