Boy, 2, drowns in family pool
2008-02-01 17:50
Johannesburg - A two-year-old boy drowned in his family's pool in Alberton, Netcare 911 said on Friday.
Spokesperson Nick Dollman said paramedics arrived on Thursday to find the family performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the boy.
Paramedics immediately started advanced life support resuscitation because the boy was in a critical and unstable condition.
He was incubated, manually ventilated and given medicinal drugs in an attempt to get his heart beating.
Unfortunately the child was declared dead on arrival by doctors at the Union hospital in Alberton, Dollman said.
The family were being given trauma counselling by Netcare 911 staff.
Dollman said most drownings in the Johannesburg area happened in unprotected pools in the suburbs.
He appealed to all parents and child-minders to be aware of water hazards, to always know where children were, and to take precautionary measures such as installing pool nets and fences.
"Small distractions could have tragic consequences," said Dollman.
- SAPA