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This site is for the members of our support group who have lost a child to an accident other a vehicle accident.  We have listed some accidents and plan to add to it in the future.  Our goal is to place information on this site that will help others to keep their children safe and to honor our members who have lost a child. For our members who have lost a child as the result of an accident, the graphic below is for you. Please display this on your website and provide a link back to https://mpas.tripod.com/sim5.html



July 19, 2003 is Mother's For Water Safety Coalition (M.F.W.S.C). The third Saturday of July is the designated date for parents who have lost a child due to drowning and water related accidents.

Swimming Pool Deaths/Drownings of Children

Three of the drownings occurred in residential swimming pools, including one in a "kiddie" pool." None of the pools were recorded as fenced. One drowning occurred in a bucket. The average age of the caretakers was 35.3, and no caretaker had participated in a water safety class. The child who drowned in the bucket was under the supervision of his mother. The mother reported that she had been on the phone, and that the child had been unattended for about 10 minutes. The caretaker of the child who drowned in the "kiddie" pool" was caring for five other children at the time of the drowning.

Children are still at risk when adults are watching them. There are a lot of close calls and actual drownings at parties. If an adult is "watching" the children that is all they should be doing, one minute spent talking and not paying close attention could result in the loss of a child. If there are a lot of children, adults should be assigned specific children to watch, NEVER assume that someone else is watching your child!! Make sure. There are children who could swim, who have drowned, they can panic in deep water, play too hard and swallow water, or fall and hit their head.

1. Infants can drown in one inch of water. Never leave a small child in the bathtub. The bathtub ranks second to swimming pools as an in-home site of drowning in children.

2. Swimming classes are extremely important for young children; however, never assume your child is "drown proof." Close supervision for all children enjoying a pool is mandatory for their safety.

3. Teenage drowning often occur in lakes and reservoirs without adequate supervision. Often times these tragedies involve alcohol or drug abuse.

4. Keep pools fenced with locked gates to prevent children from playing in the unsupervised area. (Also keep a top on the hot tub when it's not in use.)

5. Take water safety classes offered by the Red Cross and most importantly, get CPR certified.

6. If you have a pool and a child, you should successfully complete a child CPR course.


Now that summer is here, there are so many accidental drownings of our children in our own backyards. Please don't think you are exempt because your children are not young anymore or your child has had the best training in swimming. Any time there is a swimming pool involved, there are risks that children could drown without proper supervision. They could wander away from their own yard; they could be visiting your residence; or your own child could be young enough to wander off. Below are a few features that you could include in your old or new pool.

  • An approved pool cover.
  • a safety barrier that surrounds the pool and isolates it from the home.
  • Self-closing devices, at least 54 inches above the floor, on all doors directly accessing the pool.
  • Exit alarms on windows and doors around the pool area that signal when someone exits or if a window or door is ajar.
  • Vertical bars in protective fence should be no more than 4 inches apart to prevent small children from squeezing through.
  • Never leave furniture near the fence that would enable a child to climb over.
  • Keep toys away from the pool when not in use. Toys can attract young children into the pool.
  • Always keep basic lifesaving equipment such as a pole, rope and personal floatation devise near the pool.
  • Install a phone by the pool or keep a cordless phone nearby to call 911 in an emergency.

Children Aren't Waterproof
HUD Site (Drowning)
Safe Kids



Children and Car Seats, Seatbelts and Airbags

Never put an infant in the front passenger seat of a vehicle with a passenger side airbag. This could cause serious injury or death. Properly restrain children in the back seat whenever possible. (In general, children under 12 years should ride in the back seat.) If parents or caregivers MUST put a child in the front seat (e.g. they have more than three children and there is no back seat), they should:

1.Put the largest child in the front passenger seat, NEVER AN INFANT.
2.Ensure that the child is properly restrained.
3.Move the vehicle seat as far back from the dashboard as possible.



Children and Helmets

Protect Your Head. Wear A Helmet

Never ride a bicycle without a helmet. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends that bicyclists wear a helmet that complied with Standards of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or the Sneer Memorial Foundation (SNELL).

Bicycle helmets can reduce head injuries by 85 percent. Select a helmet that fits snugly and sits flat atop the head.

For children, use the extra padding that comes with the helmet to ensure a proper fit. This padding can be removed as the child's head grows.



Children Left in Automobiles in Summer Heat/Suffocation

When you get out of your car, make a habit of locking the doors! Never leave your child in the car in the hot sun. Temperatures can rise as high as 120 degrees within minutes. It's a decision thousands of parents make while running errands. Should they leave their children alone in the car for just a minute? Cracking a window does nothing to protect children from heat stroke and suffocation. An alarming number of them do exactly that. But after a recent string of tragedies, some parents are fighting for new laws to protect kids.

Even if there is an adult nearby, if that child is inside of a car and it is running something can happen that a parent did not intend to happen. Like carbon monoxide poisoning, heat stroke, suffocation and abduction. In 1999 alone, 19 kids died from heat related conditions inside cars.

From January 2000 to August 12, 2003 there have been at least 131 children who have died from heat stroke after being left, forgotten or trapped in a vehicle while 100's more have perished from other causes after left unattended in or around a car.

Automobiles and Children
4 R Kids Sake



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Changes last made on: Wed Jul 22, 2009