Toddler Pulled From Swimming Pool Hospitalized
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POMPANO BEACH (CBSMiami) - A two-year-old girl pulled from a backyard swimming pool in Pompano Beach has been taken to Joe Dimaggio Children's Hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The toddler was found floating face down in the pool behind a home in the 3200 block of Canal Drive a little after 7:30 a.m.
The residence is used as a vacation rental home. The car parked in the driveway had a Pennsylvania license plate.
Chopper4 over the home spotted floaties and a floatation band on the side of the pool near the shallow end along with a number of pool floats.
Neighbors say the girl and her family had recently arrived. Brian Morzolf who lives next door to the home said he didn't realize anything was wrong until fire rescue arrived.
"I just heard a lot of sirens which is unusual for this area unless something is wrong. Then I noticed the law enforcement and heard kids playing this morning and that was it," he said.
The girl's body was pulled from the water and CPR was performed until Pompano Beach Fire Rescue arrived. The child, who was unresponsive, was taken to Holy Cross Hospital. She was then transported to Joe Dimaggio Children's Hospital.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, drowning is the number one cause of accidental death for children ages one to four. Last summer alone, 112 kids under the age of five died in swimming pools.
Josh Lockwood, with the American Red Cross, said a child near a pool needs constant supervision.
"You also want a fence around all four sides of the pool and that should be four feet tall and that pool fence should have a self-latching door," he added.
Lockwood said ladders or steps should be childproofed and he recommends a pool alarm, which sends an alert when someone enters the water.