A child can drown in seconds. Doctors want more families to be prepared

By — Mike Stobbe, Associated Press Mike Stobbe, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/a-child-can-drown-in-seconds-doctors-want-more-families-to-be-prepared Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter A child can drown in seconds. Doctors want more families to be prepared Health Jul 4, 2026 5:22 PM EDT NEW YORK (AP) — Doctors and others are sounding an alarm: More U.S. children have been drowning in recent years. "When drowning occurs, seconds matter," said Dr. Rohit Shenoi, the lead author of a recent American Academy of Pediatrics warning. "Quick rescue and resuscitation can mean the difference between life, death and lifelong disability." About 4,000 to 5,000 Americans drown each year. Most are adults who die in natural bodies of water, such as lakes, ponds or oceans. READ MORE: How to stay cool and safe in a heat wave, even without air conditioning But statistically speaking, drowning is a much larger danger to children. It's the No. 1 cause of death for kids ages 1 to 4, and one of the top killers of children ages 5 to 14. The drowning rate is higher for white kids in the younger group, but much higher for Black, American Indian and Alaska Native children in the older group. Drownings of very young children sometimes occur in bathtubs. But most, like Stewie Leonard's, occur in swimming pools. A family tragedy leads to a foundation for water safety The Stew Leonard's grocery chain offers a Disney-like shopping experience, featuring food-promoting animatronic characters like a dancing banana, a mooing cow and singing avocados. But several of its stores also have an animatronic creature that seems out of place: a life-jacketed duck named Stewie who sings about how not to drown. The duck is named for the son of Stew Leonard, the grocery chain's chief executive. The boy was 21 months old when he drowned during a family vacation on the island of St. Martin in 1989. More than a dozen adults and kids had gathered at a birthday party for Stewie's older sister, who was turning 3. Stew Leonard was outside hanging balloons and his wife was inside baking a cake. WATCH: The growing dangers of record heat waves like the one engulfing July 4th celebrations "I saw Stewie outside and I assumed that he (Leonard) was watching him," said his wife, Kim, noting that other relatives also were in the area of the pool. "We never communicated with each other; 'You've got him?'" said Kim Leonard, now 65. "When everyone's watching, nobody's watching." "There were a couple of balloons floating in the water," Leonard, 71, recalled. "And you know after a few minutes, sort of everybody was like, 'Where's Stewie?' Unfortunately I was the one who found him. He was face down in the pool." His death led the couple to start a foundation that pays for children's swimming lessons and promotes drowning prevention. Why are more kids drowning? Unintentional child drowning deaths in the U.S. fell