Fort Worth (1080 KRLD) - Cook Children's Medical Center is out with an urgent word of warning as more and more kids take to the pools this summer.
Over the weekend, five kids ranging in age from one to 14 were admitted to Cook Children's after nearly drowning.
One of them is in the intensive care unit.
Fortunately, all five are in stable condition.
It's the start of what Cook Children's says could be a bad year for child drownings.
"Last year with the COVID, we saw less of the pool parties or the gatherings," says Sharon Evans, trauma and injury prevention coordinator at Cook Children's, "and I think now the temperature has warmed up and more and more is opening up and people are getting together again."
This past weekend underscores the extreme importance of constant adult supervision whenever kids are in the water.
"If they're in the water, an adult needs to have their eyes on them at all times," says Evans. "Taking your eyes off of them for a second can become hazardous."
Even the most experienced of young swimmers need constant adult supervision.
"Oftentimes, they get caught in a situation, or they just tire out and they go underwater," Evans says.
Without active supervision, adults might not know that a child has gone under until it's too late.
"In the movies, you see where people when they're drowning, they're thrashing, they're yelling for help and all that. But drowning is very silent," says Evans.
Adults assigned to supervise pools and other swimming areas need to be free of all distractions, Evans says, including electronics and other people talking to them.
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