Water safety experts gathered at Stony Brook University Hospital to talk about an increase in drowning deaths in Suffolk County and how to stop them.
Doctors, advocates and county officials said they want to expand education and awareness about water safety, especially to new parents and school-age children.
“That's really an important part, education," said Dr. Jacqueline Bober, a pediatric emergency physician. "Parents need the education to prevent drownings and know...that your child can drown in a couple of inches in the bathtub. And don't leave your child alone in the bathtub.”
Other suggestions included adding water safety to school curricula and enforcing laws that require fences around private pools.
New York State Sen. Monica Martinez (D-Hauppauge), a former educator, said she wants to see a targeted effort to recruit and retain lifeguards for public pools and beaches.
"That [lifeguarding] is our side hustle as teachers — but we have to find a way to really keep them," Martinez said, adding that a toddler drowned in her district last year.
The roundtable discussion comes after Suffolk County officials announced in June that drownings increased 60% last year.
