Sobering Statistics

Here are some sobering drowning statistics that I ran across from Parents magazine:

Drowning is the leading cause of injury related death in children 1-4 years old and the second-leading cause in children up to 15 years old.  Over 1,000 American children die every year from unintentional drowning.  Even more are hospitalized after being pulled from the water and revived.  The longer a child is underwater and the longer it takes to start CPR, the worse the outcome.  It only takes four to six minutes for irreversible brain damage to occur; 5-10 percent of survivors suffer permanent brain damage.

Please, please exercise extra caution around water during these hot summer days.  Have children wear lifejackets near water, never leave your child alone around water (even for a minute) and have children take swimming lessons.