Tragedy drives county health official
Casey McGovern is the Florida health department’s Drowning Prevention Program Manager for Broward County —raising awareness about water safety is her job.
But preventing deaths by educating people about the possible consequences of not being aware of water-related dangers is her passion.
Nine years after McGovern’s daughter drowned in a backyard pool, the mother of three is still haunted by what she didn’t know then and driven by what she wants parents to know today.
On Aug. 3, 2009, McGovern found her 19-month-old, Edna Mae, floating face-up in the pool where “Em” had been playing in just hours earlier. The toddler died eight days later.
“You think you are going to hear it — people think they are going to hear flailing and splashing and yelling,” McGovern said.
But the unthinkable can happen quicker than you think, she said. “A drowning can occur in as little as 60 seconds.”
Mom to three girls, who were then ages 10, 3, and 19 months, McGovern placed Em in a chair in the family room, across the counter from where she was putting away groceries.
McGovern stepped away to chat with her husband. She was only gone a minute.
Today, McGovern, of Coral Springs, talks openly about the experience, acknowledging some of the ways Em’s death might have been prevented. She needs other parents to know how such a tragedy happens.
At the time of her daughter’s death, the family pool was encircled by a child safety fence, but McGovern said the fence gate was not latched that day.
McGovern also said there was nothing in place at the time to raise an alert to potential trouble, such as chimes on the sliding door leading to the pool deck. “Drowning is silent,” she said, encouraging parents to find ways to put sound to danger.
McGovern said she also wasted precious minutes searching for her daughter inside the house.
Whether you have a pool or you’re at the pool or the beach, she tells parents today, check the water first.
“We thought we were doing everything right,” McGovern said. “There are so many things I didn’t think about, wasn’t educated on.”
According to the Florida Department of Children and Families, In the past two years, 12 children ages four and younger drowned in Broward County. The deaths occurred in family pools, community pools, lakes, the ocean, and in canals. With its 125,000 backyard pools and miles of waterways, Broward offers ample risk of drowning.
“Because our county is covered in water and it’s swim season all year long, year after year our statistics show we are one of the highest counties in state of Florida for drowning fatalities,” McGovern said.
Among her high-priority recommendations, McGovern said children should start swim lessons as soon as they start to crawl.
The county Children’s Services Council backs that advice by providing a $40 swim voucher to Broward kids ages six months to four years. The voucher is available annually, up until the fifth birthday.
“I think knowledge is power and I think the more people who relate and connect to my story may cause changes,” McGovern said.Sallie James writes for the Florida Department of Health in Broward County.