On Sunday, Rowan County Emergency Services, Rowan Rescue, Rockwell Rural Fire Department and the Saleeby-Fisher YMCA will host April Pools Day 2012 at the Saleeby-Fisher YMCA between 3 and 5 p.m.
The goal of the day is how to prevent drowning. According to a press release from Rowan County Emergency Services, water and children can be a deadly mix when an unsafe environment, inadequate supervision or improperly used safety gear is also present.
Drowning, the release says, is the leading cause of injury and death for children ages 1 to 14, and three children die every day as a result of drowning. Drowning can occur in a variety of circumstances — during water recreation such as swimming and boating or when a young child is left unsupervised or a short time in the bathtub or around the home with access to nearby pools and spas.
Drowning, which can happen in as little as 1 inch of water, is usually quick and silent. A child will lose consciousness two minutes after submersion, with irreversible brain damage occurring within four to six minutes. The majority of children who survive without neurological consequences are discovered within two minutes of submersion and most children who die are found after 10 minutes.
For children who survive the consequences of near-drowning can be devastating. As many as 20 percent of near-drowning survivors suffer severe permanent neurological disability, the effects of which often result in long-lasting psychological and emotional trauma for the child, his or her family and their community.