A 2-year-old boy drowned in a lake in Plantation on Thursday afternoon, the fourth child to die in a drowning in South Florida in less than a month.<\/p>\n
Shortly after 5:30 p.m., officers were called to the 1600 block of Northwest 108th Avenue<\/a> after someone reported that the 2-year-old boy had disappeared, the police department said in a news release Thursday night.<\/p>\n As officers were on the way, a relative found the boy unresponsive in a lake behind an apartment building in the area, pulled him from the water and immediately started CPR.<\/p>\n The boy was taken to Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale after officers and Plantation Fire Rescue arrived. He was pronounced dead at the hospital, the police department said.<\/p>\n The boy\u2019s death on Thursday comes four days after a 4-year-old girl<\/a> drowned, also in a lake in her Plantation neighborhood, and the same day U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and local swim safety advocates hosted a news conference to warn the public about the \u2018public health crisis\u2019<\/a> after the recent child drowning deaths.<\/p>\n Wasserman Schultz, safety advocates warn of \u2018public health crisis\u2019 after 3 child drownings in less than a month<\/a><\/p>\n Mentioning the July 5 drowning of the 4-year-old in Plantation, the congresswoman called on the Florida Legislature to strengthen the state law requiring residential pools to have at least one approved safety barrier. The South Florida Democrat first introduced that law, enacted in 2000, though she said she feels some amendments have made it weaker over time.<\/p>\n On June 22, an\u00a08-year-old boy<\/a>\u00a0drowned in Boynton Beach after he disappeared from his family home and was found motionless in a backyard swimming pool near his neighborhood, the police department previously said.<\/p>\n A 4-year-old boy<\/a> drowned in a backyard swimming pool in North Lauderdale days before that.<\/p>\n Children between 1 and 4 die from drowning more than any other cause of death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with Florida routinely ranking among the top in the nation for deaths.<\/p>\n Water safety tips<\/p>\n Sign children up for swim classes. The Florida Department of Health statewide offers a swimming lesson\u00a0voucher program<\/a>\u00a0for eligible families with children less than a year old and up to 17 years old. Sun Sentinel staff writer Ruth Abramovitz contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nEnsure\u00a0layers of protection<\/a>\u00a0are in place at home pools, including supervision and physical barriers.
\nLearn CPR. Different age groups require different techniques. Classes are offered in\u00a0Broward County<\/a>\u00a0through several local cities and fire departments, Broward Health, American Red Cross and the American Heart Association. Classes are offered in Palm Beach County through Palm Beach County\u00a0Fire Rescue<\/a>,\u00a0American Red Cross<\/a>\u00a0and others.<\/p>\n