Backyard pool tragedy in NJ: Toddler drowns, 4-year-old critical

HARRISON TOWNSHIP — A toddler drowned in a backyard pool Tuesday evening in Gloucester County.

Police responded to the home on Maulus Court after a 2-year-old and 4-year-old who are related but not siblings were found in the pool, according to Glocester County Prosecutor's Office spokesman Tom Gilbert.

The younger child was pronounced dead at the house while the other child was hospitalized in critical condition.

Gilbert did not disclose the circumstances of the drowning.

The drowning of another young child serves as a reminder about the pool responsibilities of being a pool owner.

A number of children, adults and teens have drowned in New Jersey since April, including a 5-year-old who drowned on July 27 in a Deptford pool. Several days later on July 31 in Linden a 2-year-old drowned in his grandmother's backyard pool.

The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs offered pool safety tips from The American Academy of Pediatrics including:

All caregivers should learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (C.P.R.). Drowning victims who are rescued from the water need C.P.R. immediately before the paramedics arrive. It can prevent brain damage and be the difference between life and death.
Never leave a child alone in or near a pool.
It is vital that you teach your children never to run around a pool, never push someone else into any body of water and never jump on another person while in the water.
Children should be taught never to swim alone.
Keep a phone by the pool, along with rescue equipment, such as a life preserver and a shepherd’s hook–a long pole with a hook at the end.
Enroll your child in a program that teaches kids how to swim.

Dan Alexander is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dan.alexander@townsquaremedia.com

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