A 1-year-old drowned in a Stanfield pool. It’s happening more this summer

The Arizona Republic this week reported 13 pediatric drownings — drowning deaths of children younger than 5 — in the first half of 2024 in Maricopa and Pinal Counties. That’s already more than the whole of last year and the highest number through June in more than a decade.

But they forgot about one.

Samuel Rosales, aged 1, drowned to death June 8, according to the Pinal County Medican Examiner’s Office . A friend of the family today confirmed the baby called “Luke” by his family died that day in a swimming pool in Stanfield.

A fundraiser organized by the Stanfield family raised $1,255 for Luke’s funeral. The organizers did not respond to requests for comment.

The drowning is now the subject of a law enforcement investigation.

Pinal County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Lauren Reimer confirmed today: “PCSO responded to the June 8 incident and we are investigating.”

In Arizona, drowning is the most common cause of death in children aged 1 to 4, according to Children’s Safety Zone, which monitors child drownings.

“The big takeaway message is that drowning is preventable, and everyone should have multiple layers of protection in place,” Maricopa public safety spokesperson Monica Williams said. “This ensures that if one fails, there are additional layers to protect individuals of all ages oftentimes before they make it to the water.”

For example, Williams said, a single home can have a door alarm that makes an audible sound when opened, and a gate around a pool with a latch. There are even alarms that trigger when the water surface of a pool is broken unexpectedly.

Maricopa Fire and Medical Department offers four tips for keeping children safe during swimming pool season:

• Never leave your children unattended without an adult present.
• Keep children within an arm’s reach of a capable adult.
• Use scanning techniques by noticing patterns and keeping head counts.
• Know how to identify and predict what a drowning can look like — typically, a victim’s head will be tilted back with their mouth open at the water level.

This post A 1-year-old drowned in a Stanfield pool. It’s happening more this summer appeared first on InMaricopa .