Voice of experience: Danger is only a split second away

My daughter followed a duck into the pond at Sugarhouse Park earlier this month — and in about 10 seconds and 12 inches of mossy, dirty water, little Piper and I became poster children for summer water safety education efforts.

As she took her steps off the sidewalk into the water, I planted my foot just inside the edge of the 80 acre-foot flood control detention basin to right myself and collect her. But my flip-flop slipped on the scummy surface of the concrete bottom and I fell into the drink with my daughter. And although I still had hold of my 22-month-old daughter, try as I might, I couldn't get a foothold on the algae-thick concrete bottom of the pond to steady either of us.

My story should serve as a warning to all parents who think they are educated about water safety, to those who think their children are comfortable and aware of water, to those who are positive that if their 2-year-old did fall into the pond, that they could easily step in and pull her out.

Were it not for the good will and sturdy hiking boots of a passer-by, who hauled us both out of the pond, we — at least Piper — could have been goners.

"As you know from personal experience, this is the time of the year for it," said Trisha Keller, of the Utah Department of Health Violence and Injury Prevention office. "And this is when we have most of the drownings."

"It can happen so fast that you can't believe it," said Detective Dwayne Baird of the Salt Lake Police Department.

"Before you know it, a child is swept into the stream and before you can think about what you need to do, they are 20 feet away, and now you are 20 feet behind them and you are still thinking about taking your shoes and socks off."

Keller's office recently put out an alert about water safety.

"There is no substitute for supervision," said Cyndi Bemis, Media and Education Coordinator for the Violence and Injury Prevention Program.

The state has a Child Fatality Death Review Board. "We see too many drowning deaths occurring in Utah," Keller said. "And it's really unfortunate because many of the children are so young."

Data shows that in nearly every Utah outdoor drowning, a young child wandered off alone and fell into a pool, hot tub or canal, according to Bemis. In nearly every bathtub drowning case, the child died because the parent left the room for just a minute, and the child went underneath the water.