Arizona water safety advocate examines trend of fatal child drownings

PHOENIX – The number of fatal child drownings in Arizona declined sharply in 2025 after a spike in the tragic incidents the previous year.

“We went from 19 drownings under the age of 5 to eight,” Jay Arthur, a retired Phoenix firefighter who serves as vice president of the Drowning Prevention Coalition of Arizona, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Wednesday.

This year’s total includes a 2-year-old girl who died at a hospital last week after she was pulled out of a backyard pool in Tempe.

2024 was one of the worst years for child drowning deaths in the last two decades, Arthur said.

“When we saw this trend happening, we decided that we needed to make a concerted effort and find out what was happening,” he said.

How to reduce risk of child drownings

Arthur said it turned out that all but two of the 2024 deaths occurred when there weren’t planned swimming activities.

“What that means is that they weren’t supposed to be around the pool. They got to the pool through … any access from the home into the backyard,” he said.

As a result, securing doors became a point of emphasis during this year’s water safety awareness outreach.

“What we did with this campaign that we started from 2024, we encouraged people and parents to put locks and extra protection on their doors that lead to the backyard pool,” Arthur said.

He noted that locks with alarms are especially effective at notifying parents in other rooms when a child might be trying to get to the pool area.

Additionally, Arthur said fences and pool covers can help prevent child drownings. He also recommended putting away pool toys that might attract kids and making sure there isn’t any furniture placed where children could use it to climb over a barrier.

Furthermore, he said CPR training can make a life-or-death difference during drowning incidents.

“We really encourage people to know CPR … because that’s really the only thing that’s going to probably prevent that child from being a tragic result,” he said.

KTAR News and Fulton Homes want to remind you that two seconds is too long to take your eyes off kids near water. To learn more about this campaign, visit the 2 Seconds is Too Long website.

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