By: Natasha Archary
Two girls, 5 and 9-years old, drowned in a hotel pool in South Beach, Durban on Tuesday, 29 November.
Both children were in the pool and were pronounced dead by paramedics who arrived on scene and found the girls in a state of cardiac arrest.
According to Emer-G-Med spokesperson, Kyle van Reenen, paramedics from Netcare 911 and Medi-Response tried for over an hour to resuscitate the girls but were unsuccessful.
“On arrival, paramedics found two girls, 5 and 9, in a state of cardiac arrest. Resuscitation efforts and several advanced life support intervention methods were exhausted for over an hour.
However, efforts were unsuccessful and both females were sadly declared dead on scene.”
It is unclear if the girls were left unsupervised in the pool and officials are urging parents and guardians to never leave children in the pool or beaches unsupervised.
This is the second drowning incident in KwaZulu-Natal in November, as two other children drowned while swimming in a river earlier this month.
On 15 November, two children, 11 and 12-years old from Bombolo Primary School in Nongoma, KZN drowned in the river.
Regardless of how old a child is, or whether he/she is a capable swimmer, drownings can occur within a matter of minutes.
It is advisable to get children water safe from an early age and for parents to receive first aid training to be prepared for possible drowning accidents.
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