As the weather warms, more swimmers will be hitting pools, beaches, rivers and creeks in Colorado, and water users should take precautions to avoid injury or even death, authorities warn.
Several drownings around the state over the weekend and a near drowning in an Aurora swimming pool serve as reminders that although water sports are a popular way to beat the heat, care must be taken.
“Drownings are silent,” warns Cindy Matthews, a spokeswoman with the West Metro Fire Protection District. “They are very, very quiet, and you usually don’t notice until it is too late.”
In Aurora, a boy nearly drowned in a swimming pool Sunday night, said Aurora Fire Department Deputy Chief Mark Ricard.
The incident happened at about 5:30 p.m. at a pool in the Dam East subdivision, Ricard said.
Someone at the pool found the boy, who was not named, at the bottom, pulled him out and began CPR, Ricard said.
The boy, who had a weak pulse, was taken by ambulance to Medical Center of Aurora and then transferred by helicopter to Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center, Ricard said.
Denver’s public swimming pools, which open today, are staffed by lifeguards, but many private pools, including those at apartment and condominium complexes, do not always have guards. Many pools rely only on posted safety warnings.
“It’s one thing to post warnings and another to adhere to warnings,” said Lt. Phil Champagne, a Denver Fire Department spokesman.
Immediate aid is crucial with a possible pool drowning, he said. Performing CPR and quickly summoning help are vital in helping victims become survivors.
“The quicker you can get them out of the pool, the better,” Champagne said.
He said swimming should be fun, but he warned against horseplay and diving at private swimming pools, as well as the danger of swimming alone.
“People swimming alone could be flirting with disaster,” Champagne said. “Sometimes, you are unaware of certain health conditions, and it is really not appropriate, especially in an unsupervised pool.”
Accidents also happen in lakes and creeks. At least three people drowned this weekend using Colorado waterways for recreation.
A 29-year-old woman from Santa Fe, Christine Beltran, drowned in Larimer County on Sunday while tubing with friends in the Poudre River.
On Saturday, Stephen F. Burns II, 19, of Littleton drowned in Mesa County in a section of the Little Dolores River called the Potholes.
And in Gunnison County, Michael Dennington of Parker died Saturday when his raft overturned in the Gunnison River.
Those using rivers, creeks and lakes for recreation, including boaters and tubers, should wear life vests, Matthews stressed.
In wild-water emergencies, especially on rivers and creeks, rescuers shouldn’t jump in after someone but instead “reach, throw and go,” Matthews said. Try to reach the victim first, Matthews said, or throw him or her a floatation device, a rope, or even a branch in an attempt to assist. Someone should immediately summon help, either physically or by using a cellphone, Matthews said.
Often, people who attempt to rescue someone from wild waters end up becoming victims themselves. That was the case with Burns, who jumped in to help a friend who was having problems in the current.
Matthews said West Metro has kicked off a new loaner life-jacket program at Bear Creek Lake Park in Lakewood this season after a 5-year-old drowned in the lake last year.
The new program, based on a similar program in Alaska, places life jackets at “loaner stations” at the park’s beach and its boat launch area. When kids are done with the jackets, they return them to the station.
So far, the program is a big hit, and the life-jackets were in huge demand during the past two weekends, Matthews said.
“The biggest thing is just having life-jackets available,” Matthews said. “A lot of times, you’ll see kids playing in a river with nothing on — all it takes is one slip on the rocks, and the kid is swept downriver with little chance of survival.”
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
