The drowning of a child in Las Vegas on Wednesday reminded us all of a tragedy that happens much too frequently. And as the weather warms up, we are likely to see more children drown in Southern Nevada.

 

 The day Laura Hanson's daughter nearly drowned remains a terrifying memory. Laura was distracted for only a moment. Laura said, "You always think of a drowning to be a series of events and it leads up to something. But all it was probably 30 seconds. Two gulps and you're under."

Hannah, who was 2 at the time, took off her floaties and slipped under the surface. Another adult spotted her and called out. Laura turned around to find Hannah face-up under water. "We got her out of the water and I got her on the side of the deck. And he raced over to the side and did mouth to mouth. She automatically started crying. We knew when she started crying that she would be fine," Laura said.

At Valley Hospital's Emergency Room, physician Jeff Davidson says drowning happens far too often here in Southern Nevada. Dr. Davidson says, "This is not an unusual event. This does occur specifically in the spring and summer months. And in this city, we do see this often."

When Hannah nearly drowned, there were five adults in the pool and five kids -- not an unsafe ratio. But drowning can be fast and silent. A national survey found that with most swimming pool drownings and near-drownings, there was some form of supervision present.

And pools are not the only place around the house where drownings occur. Las Vegas paramedic, Derek Cox says, "Occasionally we'll see drownings in bathtubs and occasionally we'll see drownings in 5 gallon paint containers."

Cox adds that once the child has been pulled out of the water, a decision to perform CPR must be made quickly. "After 6 minutes of no oxygen or circulation, the chances of survival decrease dramatically as the minutes go by."

In a possible drowning situation get the child onto dry land. If another person is present, tell them to call 911. Quickly look, listen and feel for breathing. If the child is not breathing, perform mouth-to-mouth CPR. And, be prepared to turn the victim on his side to help the water come up and out.

Children who survive a near-drowning without suffering serious brain damage are those who are pulled out within 2 minutes of submersion. In 2005, valley wide, there were 42 near-drownings. Six of those turned fatal, and of those fatalities, all were children under four years old.

Keep in mind that swimming lessons do not make a child drown-proof.