(FOX 5/KUSI) — A firefighter and a swim instructor are urging the public to help prevent accidental child drownings.
CAL FIRE Captain Michael Cornette and infant aquatics instructor Jessica Box recently joined KUSI News to push for stronger messaging around accidental drownings, which are the leading cause of accidental death for children under age four.
Together, they’re calling on families, caregivers, and the community at large to prioritize survival swim lessons and treat water safety with the same seriousness as vaccinations and car seat safety.
“The older drowning prevention messaging was a picture of a giant yellow duck in floaties and goggles,” said Box. “It was overall pretty weak. It didn’t convey the seriousness of drowning—and that’s where CAL FIRE stepped in and helped shift the tone.”
Captain Cornette says the change in tone was personal.
“Messaging needed to change. This hits close to home for us. We’ve had CAL FIRE employees lose their own children to drowning,” he said. “We’ve taken the lead in working with organizations like Infant Aquatics to make the messaging more impactful—and more realistic—so families don’t tune it out.”
Box says the new approach focuses on action—specifically aggressive, high-quality survival swim lessons that teach children how to save themselves.
“Children can reach the bottom of a pool in less than three seconds,” she said. “A child 30 pounds or under can drown in less than 30 seconds.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4. Even older children are at risk.
“It’s not just toddlers,” Box said. “We lost a 12-year-old recently right here in San Diego County.”
Box emphasizes the need to enroll children—especially those ages six months and up—in survival swim lessons that teach self-rescue skills, including how to roll over, float, breathe, and find the wall or edge.
“We’re really pushing for parents to take control—not to hope their kids don’t drown, but to prepare them not to,” she said. “We don’t want to put our children in a situation they’re not trained to survive.”
She added: “What we’re trying to do is make water safety non-negotiable.”
Survival Swim Resources
• InfantAquatics.com
• ISR.com
• TheSwimCompany.net
When asked how else parents can help prevent drownings, Box compared swim safety to other core pillars of child wellness.
“Yes, survival swim lessons are the first step—but this is about a mindset shift. We need to think of swim lessons like vaccines. Drowning is the number one thing taking our babies in this country. It needs to be part of our parenting plan from the very beginning,” Box said.
CAL FIRE and The Swim Foundation are spreading their life-saving message through social media campaigns, community events, and media partnerships.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
