What can parents and those with child care responsibilities do to prevent children from drowning? 

Keeping our eyes on children is the only reliable means of drowning-prevention. As summer rushes to meet us we think of swimming and water recreation as a means of cooling off. Pools, streams, and lakes can pose unexpected hazards to young children. Young children do not usually react to drowning by screaming and thrashing and they can get into trouble without warning. Missouri has many water hazards besides swimming pools. We have slippery stream banks, muddy ponds and lakes, animal watering tanks, and rushing flood waters during rain storms. We had an unusually high number of drownings several years ago - all different situations. The bottom line is "Keep your eyes open to prevent drowning."

Linda Cooperstock, MPH, Project Director Family and Community Medicine, 
University of Missouri-Columbia