When a young drowning victim slips below the water, there's no screaming, no wild splashing, nothing on the surface to draw attention to the desperate struggle beneath. There's usually just silence and an absence that tragically can go unnoticed until the youngster floats to the surface or is spotted in the water.
"They don't make a sound when it happens," said Jeffery Parker, aquatic program coordinator for the Southeast Louisiana Chapter of the Red Cross.
In the New Orleans area, five children – ages 21 months to 11 years -- have died of drowning since May.
"It can happen in minutes," Jefferson Parish Coroner Dr. Gerry Cvitanovich said.
Every year, almost 800 children drown in the United States, and two-thirds of those deaths occur between May and August, according to recent research released by Safe Kids Worldwide, a nonprofit devoted to decreasing accidental deaths.
Local and national officials are urging parents and adults to be more vigilant when it comes to water safety for youngsters. It's not about blaming anyone, especially the devastated parents of the victims lost, Cvitanovich said. It's about preventing another drowning death of a young child.
"We've had way too many of these this summer," he said.
Five lives lost
Jack Piza, 2, drowned May 17 when he fell into a backyard pool on Oriole Street in New Orleans, according to New Orleans police and Orleans Parish Coroner Dr. Jeffrey Rouse.
Eight days later, Renee Thompson, 5, wandered through a broken gate into the backyard of a neighboring home for sale on Jeannette Drive in Metairie. Renee's 8-year-old sister saw her a few minutes later at the bottom of a pool's deep end. Paramedics couldn't revive her.
Bennasia Williams, 11, and her siblings were attending a May 29 graduation party at a home on Prentiss Street in New Orleans. She never resurfaced after a trip down a pool slide, according to a civil lawsuit filed in Orleans Parish. Bennasia was hospitalized after she floated to the surface and died two days later.
Haven Ramee, 3, was with relatives for a family gathering at a Terrytown apartment complex on June 5 when investigators believe she left a kiddie pool and slipped off the steps into a nearby hot tub. Family members found her floating face down.
Amelia Martinez, 21 months, was at a Fourth of July party on Ames Boulevard in Marrero when her mother said the toddler must have slipped on the stairs on the pool and hit her head. The girl's 8-year-old brother pulled her out of the water, and she was hospitalized for three days before doctors declared her brain dead.
Jack, Renee, Bennasia, Haven and Amelia. Five deaths, three before summer was even well underway.
"It's just a terrible situation," Cvitanovich said.
Fatal misconceptions
More than half of the 784 children who died of drowning in the United States in 2014 were under the age of 5, according to Safe Kids' water safety research. It's a frightening statistic considering how quickly toddlers can disappear, even under the eye of the most watchful parent. The nonprofit identified several common misconceptions along families that can lead to drowning, according to CEO Kate Carr.
Many parents believe that if their youngster were in trouble in the water, they'd hear or see something. But real life is nothing like the movies or television.
"Little kids who go underwater may not be able to lift themselves up so that they are heard," Carr said. "You may not hear a sound. You may not see a splash, and you're certainly not going to hear screaming."
A toddler or small child thrashing underwater may not make a ripple above the surface, according to Parker.
"Sometimes, you just step off where the water is deep, and you're just going down. Nothing is happening on top," he said.
During social gatherings, adults often figure other family members are minding the littlest attendees
"When everybody's watching the child, nobody's watching the child," Cvitanovich has said.
Other times, adults may be distracted by a book, a conversation or a even a trip to the restroom, believing that nothing could happen in just a minute or two.
But a child who silently slips below the water can drown in only a few minutes, less than 20 seconds for younger children who sink to the bottom. In the cases of the Jefferson Parish drownings, the youngsters were missing five minutes or less, according to Cvitanovich.
"It's very fast," Carr said. "That's why the distraction of walking away, not keeping your eyes on a child, poses a very real threat to your child's safety."
Parents of children who've taken swimming lessons also had a false sense of confidence in their child's ability to handle the water. But nearly half the 10 to 17-year-olds who died of drowning knew how to swim, according to Carr.
Layers of protection
Parents and adults can prevent future drowning deaths by creating what Carr called "layers of protection" for children when it comes to water.
-Always keep young children within arms reach: Experts advise adults to carefully supervise children when they are in large pools, kiddie pools, bathtubs or any body of water. But parents of the very young should keep children within an arm's length so they can react immediately should a child go under.
-Always wear life jackets: Parents and adults are encouraged to make sure children always wear a life jacket or some other U.S. Coast Guard-approved flotation device. Water wings don't count.
-Teach children swimming skills: Parents should enroll their children in swimming lessons as soon as the child is ready. Youngsters can begin learning swimming skills as early as 6 months old, but make sure to take age and development into consideration.
-Have a fence and gate around home pools: Most homeowners should already have a fence surrounding a backyard pool. But owners are also encouraged to install a 4-foot-tall, self-closing gate around the pool, itself, to keep out curious or wandering children.
-Empty kiddie pools after each use: Parents should drain small kiddie pools after swimming and store them upside down to prevent the collection of rainwater.
-Get trained in CPR: Adults who supervise children and parents should get CPR training to be able to revive a youngster should it become necessary.
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To read the entire Safe Kids Worldwide's study with the complete listing of water safety misconceptions and advice for parents, visit https://www.safekids.org/sites/default/files/small_water_safety_study_2016.pdf
For more information from water safety for children, visit the American Red Cross' YouTube channel.