HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — A CDC study shows the number of drowning deaths is on the rise. It found drowning remains the number one cause of death for children ages one through four.
Those are troubling statistics, but it is something we are looking into to keep you and your family safe.
The report shows swim lessons and water safety training can help prevent tragedies and save lives.
"It is very important. We live in Florida and there is water everywhere, so getting kids in swim lessons and being able to give them those life-saving skills," said Lacey Boldman with the YMCA.
Boldman explained that you can start swim lessons as young as six months old. One of the first things they teach kids is how to flip onto their back and call for help. She said that could save a life in a dire situation.
“It definitely is very important because it gives that extra time to be able to notify someone if they are in on their back yelling,” Boldman said.
We also looked into boating safety ahead of Memorial Day weekend.
Forrest Rothchild with Florida Fish and Wildlife said everybody on the boat needs to have a life jacket on board. For kids, he said wearing one could be a matter of life or death.
“It's meant to keep the heads up out of the water and especially for the kids, a lot of them are designed to have handles so you can reach out and grab the handle to pull the child out of the water,” Rothchild said.
He said they will have an increased presence on the water this weekend and will be checking for life jackets.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
