As warm weather months arrive, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is reminding parents that children can drown in something as small as a pot of water.
Children can drown in as little as 2 inches of water, in as quickly as 20 seconds, the agency warns.
In the last six years, children have drowned in buckets, bathtubs and septic tanks in addition to pools, lakes, rivers and ponds, the DCFS reports. Less than half of Illinois’ recent child drownings have taken place in swimming pools.
The most drownings occurred in Cook County between 2000 and 2006, with a peak of 11 in 2005. There were 16 to 24 total drownings across the state each year.
Nationally, drowning is the leading cause of accidental death among children ages 1 to 4, and the second-leading cause for children ages 1 to 14.
“We know from painful experience that this loss can happen to any family, any time a child is near water,” said Erwin McEwen, DCFS acting director.
