One month old baby drowns in jacuzzi at southern Israel hotel

The drowning marks the second deadly incident in the span of a month.

By LIDAR GRAVÉ-LAZI
Updated: APRIL 3, 2018 00:47
Magen David Adom ambulances (photo credit: MAGEN DAVID ADOM)
Magen David Adom ambulances
(photo credit: MAGEN DAVID ADOM)
A one-month-old baby drowned to death on Monday in a jacuzzi at a hotel in the southern city of Ashdod.
Magen David Adom paramedics who were called to the scene evacuated the baby to Assuta Hospital in the city while attempting resuscitation. At the hospital, doctors were forced to pronounce his death.
While the circumstances of the drowning are not yet clear, an initial investigation revealed that the baby slipped out of his mother’s hands while in the jacuzzi and drowned.
“When we entered the room we saw the baby unconscious when CPR was being carried out [on him] via instructions over the phone,” said MDA paramedic Naor Sabag, who arrived at the scene on his motorcycle. “We gave him life-saving medical treatment which included medicine, mouth to mouth, and massages and we evacuated him to the hospital.”
The drowning marks the second deadly incident in the span of a month. In March, a three-year-old boy from Betar Illit drowned to death in a pool while vacationing with his family in a zimmer in the Galilee.
Child safety organization Beterem revealed data that found that in the past decade 159 children in Israel died from drowning, seven of which died from drowning in the bathtub.
The data further revealed that 34% of drowning incidents that ended in death were children aged zero to four.
In 2017, 15 children died from drowning while in 2018, two children have already drowned to death.
“A vacation with children requires increased vigilance by the parents and strict adherence to safety rules,” said Orly Silbinger, Beterem CEO. “For very young children, close and active supervision by an adult is required every time there is any water source nearby. The adult supervisor should be within touching distance of the child and must maintain eye contact with him, and should be free of any other distraction, like a conversation, reading, or speaking on the phone.”


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