BOISE, Idaho — Idaho's summer is in full force and bringing triple-digit temperatures in many parts of the state, which have many seeking relief and recreation in the mountains or nearby bodies of water. Multiple incidents involving Idaho children drowning while recreating in water are alarming health experts.
"We see a huge increase in pediatric emergencies through this time period, we looked back, and we've seen about 200 cases over the last three months," said Chris Shandera, EMS Manager for Air St. Luke's.
Those 200 cases include injuries from bicycle and ATV crashes to horse-related accidents, and even heat-related illnesses; but still, according to medical officials at St. Luke's, one of the things they are seeing an increasing amount of are calls for drownings.
"We tend to see a lot more water-related injuries during the summer, as people are out on boats and in swimming pools," said Shandera.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Idaho is ranked ninth in the United States for drownings.
"Which is just kind of a crazy thing because we're not surrounded by water and so you wouldn't think of Idaho as having high numbers of drownings, but we do have a lot of water here," said Allison Gauthier, a combined emergency and pediatrics physician for emergency medicine of Idaho with St. Luke's.
It's not just lakes and rivers that Dr. Gauthier sees some of these children drown in.
"So, we do see it in lakes, we see it in canals, we see it in rivers, we see it in pools, and I mean even bathtubs with young children, so it happens in all bodies of water," Dr. Gauthier said.
Medical professionals said the best way to keep children safe and prevent drowning is supervision.
"Drowning related injuries are generally pretty preventable," said Shandera. "I think the most important part there is that family members or friends are aware of their surroundings and looking out for those little ones who might not be aware of the risks related to open water."
There are also other ways to minimize the chances of a child drowning. Dr. Gauthier said swimming lessons are a good option and Kirsten Cederburg, General Manager for Goldfish Swim School in Boise agrees.
"Your sweet spot for kids, you know, taking in a lot of learning, being able to really propel themselves through the water, I would say is about three to seven," said Cederburg.
Cederburg said it helps to get kids familiar with water before they develop a fear of water. St. Luke's also mentioned another big cause of injuries they've seen recently are head injuries from bike, scooter and ATV accidents.
"With pediatric trauma we typically see one to two a week, but over the Fourth of July weekend, when everybody was out and busy and doing things, we saw seven a day for three days in a row."
The main issue was many patients didn't have helmets which could've helped prevent the injury or minimize serious injuries.
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