3-year-old hospitalized after being found unresponsive in community pool, Doral police say
A Doral 3-year-old girl was transported to a local hospital after being found unresponsive in a community pool Saturday evening, police said.
At about 7 p.m., officers were called to the 8200 block of NW 41st Street to a report of a child in distress, according to the Doral Police Department. When they arrived, they found the toddler and immediately performed CPR until Miami-Dade Fire Rescue arrived.
The child was transported to Jackson Hospital West and was later transferred to Nicklaus Children's Hospital, where she remains, officials said. Her condition is unknown, but police said she was stable.
The incident is under investigation.
Drownings In South Florida
"Drowning is preventable, and it is also the No. 1 cause of unintentional death of children ages 1 to 4," said Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez said during a press event in 2024.
The majority of the drowning deaths in 2024 happened in swimming pools, according to the governor's office.
Florida is home to about 1.5 million residential pools, at least 42,000 public pools and at least 825 miles of sandy beaches, Nunez said.
"So more important than ever, we want to make sure that we bring awareness to water safety and drowning prevention," Nuñez said.
Of the 60 fatal drownings in the first half of 2024, according to the governor's office, 47 of them involved children who were not supposed to be in or near water, said Shevaun Harris, secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Florida ranked fourth in the nation for unintentional drowning deaths among all ages in 2021 with 2.23 fatalities per 100,000 population, behind Alaska (4.54), Hawaii (3.37), and Louisiana (2.78).
From 2019 to 2021 combined, Florida was ranked the highest in the U.S. for unintentional drowning death rate among children ages 1 to 4 years (6.64 per 100,000 population), the state health department said.
Florida had the highest unintentional drowning death rate of 3.25 per 100,000 population among children 0 to 9 years of age compared to other states.
Annually, there are dozens of children under the age of 5 lost to drowning, Florida CHARTS said:
- 60 in 2020
- 75 in 2021
- 67 in 2022
