Central Texas has seen 10 fatal child drownings so far this year, to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services 鈥� a notable increase when compared to two in 2018 and four in 2017.
鈥淭hroughout the year we were tracking the spike in drownings throughout the state of Texas and specifically a 400% increase in AG真人百家乐 County alone,鈥� said Megan Ferraro, the executive director of the nonprofit .
The foundation is working with local organizations, including Dell Childrens鈥� Medical Center, Colin鈥檚 Hope and Safe Kids Austin, to combat what they call a stark increase in drownings both nationally and statewide.
Those community partners are looking to create more education and training programs for water safety.
鈥淲e plan to roll [a water safety plan] out in April and May [next] year,鈥� Ferraro said. 鈥淪o that community leaders, educators, public health officials and parents can really take a look at what we recommend and implement those strategies during the warmer months.鈥�
According to the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention, drownings are the number one cause of 鈥渦nintentional injury deaths for children ages one to four.鈥� It鈥檚 the second leading cause for those under the age of 14.
鈥淲ater safety isn鈥檛 just for children one to four,鈥� said Ferraro. 鈥淚ts from children from birth to age 18 and we need to make sure we鈥檙e educating our children and parents on the importance of water safety.鈥�
As of Monday, Texas has seen 85 child drownings so far this year, compared to 91 fatal drownings in 2018 and 77 in 2017. Texas routinely leads the nation in total drownings.
