April Pool’s Day Seeks to Raise Awareness of Water Safety and Drowning Prevention - April 6, 2022

While the pun is clever, drowning is no laughing matter. Travis County, the City of Austin, and Colin’s Hope, the Central Texas Drowning Prevention Action Team, invite the media to an April Pool’s Day Press Conference on Wednesday, April 6 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Bartholomew Pool, 1800 E 51st St. to discuss water safety and drowning prevention. Press Conference Speakers will include representatives from Colin’s Hope, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services, and the City of Austin’s Public Health and Parks and Recreation Departments. Drowning is the single leading cause of death for children ages one to four-years-old and a leading cause for older children and adults, yet drowning is preventable.

Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services (ATCEMS) responded to 63 drowning incidents in 2021 throughout their response area. In 2019, ATCEMS partnered with Austin Public Health to review 6 years of ATCEMS emergency responses to drownings and found that in Travis County 70% of drownings occur in the summer, 80% occur in pools, and 69% are children between the ages of one and four-years-old. Only 28% of drowning victims receive bystander CPR or rescue breathing prior to EMS arrival. Know what to do in an emergency, LEARN CPR! Find out about FREE CPR classes for all ages at 512-972-SAFE (7233) or EMSPubEd@austintexas.gov.

According to data from the CDC, Texas loses an average of one person per day to fatal unintentional drowning. Between the years of 2006-2020, that adds up to more than 5,000 Texans who died by drowning. Already, this year Texas has lost at least nine children and many adults to fatal drownings in pools, bathtubs, buckets and in open water. Drowning doesn’t discriminate and affects people of any age, race, gender, socioeconomic level and even swimming ability. Nobody is drown-proof.

As the weather heats up and people begin getting into all kinds of water to cool off, it is imperative that we reach families with water safety messages that can keep everyone safer in, near and around the water. Everyone should learn about simple things they can do to prevent drownings including watching kids around water, learning to swim, wearing life jackets, and blocking access to water. Find water safety information at www.colinshope.org and take the online water safety quiz at www.colinshope.org/quiz. 

Registration for City of Austin swim lessons opens on April 11 at 8:00 a.m. for Austin residents and at 10:00 a.m. for non-residents at AustinTexas.gov/ParksOnline. Help save lives and prevent drownings! Apply to be a lifeguard at Lifeguardaustin.com.