This Fourth of July weekend, there were several water related emergencies across the DMV, and first responders are stressing the importance of water safety as the summer months press on.
“I think across the United States, we average 10 drownings per day across the United States, and of those, 10% of those are typically children,” said Prince George’s County Fire and EMS Assistant Chief Donald Fletcher.
According to the Virginia Department of Health, six children under the age of five have lost their lives to swimming pool drownings in Virginia since Memorial Day, between 2020 and 2024, nearly 500 people accidentally drowned in Virginia. Nearly a fifth of them were under the age of 19.
On the Fourth of July, first responders rescued five men after a boat flipped over near the Washington Monument
On Saturday night, D.C. fire and EMS also rescued another person from the Potomac River near the Key Bridge. They were taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Saturday afternoon, Prince George’s County Fire and EMS responded to a community pool on Golf Course Drive in Bowie for a near drowning. A 13-year-old boy was rescued and taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Then on Sunday in Hyattsville, crews were called to another pool at a gated apartment complex where a boy was found unresponsive and died.
Also on Sunday, someone was taken to the hospital with life threatening injuries after an incident at the World War II Memorial. A spokesperson for the National Mall said the person had a medical emergency around 4 a.m.. They said the individual was in the water at the memorial. Officials have closed the Memorial while the National Park Service and U.S. Park Police investigate. News4 is still working to learn more about that victim’s condition.
How to stay safe near water
News4 spoke with Fletcher about important water safety reminders.
“The best thing you can do for a child is teach them how to swim,” he said.
There should be a one to one ratio of adult supervision while children are swimming, and that the adult should be within arm’s reach for families with pools at home, according to Fletcher.
“Make sure the pool is enclosed with a gate,” he said. “Once they’re out of the pool, ensure the toys are removed from the pool deck so they don’t find themselves wandering around the pool deck and maybe tripping to get back in.”
He added that nearly all drowning incidents are preventable and that the fire department offers free hands-only CPR classes to residents.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
