Child found unconscious by pool in Baldwin

The police responded to a distress call regarding an unconscious boy near a backyard pool from a residence on Imperial Drive in Baldwin Harbor at 12:09 p.m. on Tuesday, May 18.

The First Precinct police were the first to arrive at the scene and performed CPR on the child, who was then transported in a Nassau County Police ambulance to a nearby hospital. The child is listed in critical condition and the investigation remains ongoing, police say.

From 1987 to 2017, there has been one drowning case in Baldwin, according to the New York State Department of Health Bathing Facility Incident Databases. A 41-year-old Hempstead man drowned in the bay next to Baldwin Park in 2017, where swimming was banned. As a response, the town added a more visible “No Swimming” sign and some snow fencing along the shoreline.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there are certain demographics and contextual factors that increase the likelihood of drowning. State residents are less likely to drown at regulated pools and beaches. Nice weather in the months of June, July, and August increases the number of patrons who are exposed to drowning. The highest incidence of drowning occurs at the end of the day due to more bathers and bather and lifeguard fatigue.

The Children’s Safety Network finds that the likelihood of drowning in natural settings increases with age, as children ages one to four are more prone to drowning in pools, even as shallow as five feet of water. Some of the leading risk factors for unintentional drowning include lack of swimming ability, physical barriers to pools, and close supervision, the CDCP finds. The CSN recommends the following to help prevent unintentional drownings: formal swimming lessons, four-sided fencing around pools, wearing lifejackets on boats, and adult supervision.