Kid drowns at RSM pool

[Spirit]

So sad.  Looks like there's a very small chance he might pull through.

 

Our friends live up in this neighborhood and we used to go to the Beach Club on the 4th before we moved.

 

 

http://ranchosantamargarita.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/pall-cast-over-fireworks-show-as-tyke-pulled-from-water

 

 

 

[St1ck]

How does someone leave a 3 year old in the water unattended ?

[katie]

"He also said there were lots of others in the shallow pool area, and when that occurs, it's often assumed everyone is being watched."

 

Still...

[nate]

Great parenting instincts if you are using assumptions regarding the safety of your 3 year old...  just awful.

[yk9001]

What the heck is Patch?

Good lord that was hard to understand.

[halobob]

Wow, so sad.  I used to walk around the RSM lake most weekends, I bet the beach club part was packed on the 4th.  Very surprising that no one in the water noticed in time to save the child.

[austin724]

What a terrible tragedy. You hear more and more about kids drowning in pools now. 

[nate]

What the heck is Patch?

Good lord that was hard to understand.

 

Patch is an online local newspaper type website.  Each one is independent.  Some of them hire really awful journalists.

[NJHalo]

No Ambu bags or AED?

 

Lawsuit coming

[Biergott]

So sad, I was walking to the lake with my boys for the fireworks when the commotion was happening and the ambulance came flying in.  Horrible situation.  I wasn't in the gated beach club this year, but I remember last year that the lifeguards came off duty about an hour before the fireworks and it was announced that they were off duty.  Not sure if that happened this year or not.  But the lack of life saving equipment at a facility that is that crowded throughout the summer is astounding.  Also, I've seen several instances on other days where there's been a child in distress and a parent rescues the kid without a lifeguard even moving.  Its a really big pool with only a couple lifeguards and TONS of kids in the water.  Not enough eyes in my opinion.

 

NJHalo is right, big lawsuit coming.  But regardless, I hope the little one pulls through.

[Mudville]

The parents should be sterilized for letting a 3 year old play unattended, they obviously are not capable of raising children.

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

Crappy story.  As far as not having enough eyes on the pool that should fall on parents when we're talking about small children.  If you have a child who isn't the strongest swimmer or it's crowded and there's older/bigger kids in the water you need to watch your kid.   

[LBHalos17]

This is horrible news; hope the kid's a fighter.

 

Drownings are like "the perfect storm" usually; it's a combination of the factors listed above.  I lifeguarded pools and beaches for over ten years (including Huntington City and Long Beach, which are worlds-apart as HB is a wave beach, and LBC is mostly flat-water/lake-style).  Non-swimmers who go to the beach and pools generally don't recognize any possible dangers, and assume the Lifeguards will save them (they sometimes sink like rocks).  Lifeguards today are well-trained (especially City beach-Guards).  They must be first-aid/CPR trained, and many of us work toward an EMT certification.  But, they are not Supermen/women.  I worked through several near-drownings and recoveries in my time on the beaches, mostly caused because people do not recognize the dangerous conditions or ask the Guards.

 

In HB, it is large waves causing side-currents and rip-currents (that pull non-swimmers out to deeper water).  In LBC, the calm-waters create a false-sense of security... but the beaches and bay have extreme drop-offs that non-swimmers just slip-over (and find themselves in 10 feet of water instead of knee-high).  Most Guards in LB have made a human-chain rescue, where three or more people/kids are holding onto each other trying to pull another off the bottom.  Another big one is toddlers going-down a couple of feet from shore.  They go running toward the water, and it eventually trips-them-up.  They fall into the water face-first, and try to push themselves up.  Problem is, the beaches slope downward, and sometimes they can't reach the bottom, and it doesn't really look like an emergency at first.  I called these little guys Turbo-babies, and would get ready to run-over when I saw one start their run to the water.

 

Sorry for the long-windedness; I guess I'm just trying to say swim-safe, and take the time to talk to the Guards about conditions if you can.  If you are not CPR-trained at least, always swim with your family near a Lifeguard.

[Jason]

How does someone leave a 3 year old in the water unattended ?

The joy of parenting and alcohol

[deepdrive]

The joy of parenting and alcohol

 

Exactly. Don't bring your young child near water or in a motor vehicle if you're going to drink.

[Biergott]

This pool and others in RSM does not have lifeguards, they have pool monitors that enforce a mandatory break so no one takes a dump in the pool, and other rules. I think many believe they are lifeguards though since they're dressed in red and on tall white tower chairs. Pretty misleading.

Sad news is that the little guy died this morning.

[Stradling]

It's truly awful and sad but if anyone gets sued that would be completely ****ing lame. It is a parents responsibility to watch their kids. As a matter of fact I would be more ok locking up the parents for child endangerment than support a lawsuit.

[Biergott]

Agreed stradling, but it would be nice if RSM added life saving equipment and lifeguards to this rec area. Especially at events where they sell tickets and fill it to capacity. They spend money to contract the OC Sheriff to ride horses around the lake before and during the fireworks to handle all the troublemakers from Coto and Dove canyon. I'm sure they could spend a few more bucks an hour to upgrade from untrained pool monitors to actual lifeguards.

[LBHalos17]

Yeah, I went to that pool once and thought those were Lifeguards (Tho I knew I had more training/experience to keep my family/friends safe anyway).  I think they will add Lifeguards, or the pool will close at the very least...