The family, which has requested to remain anonymous, shared their story with Checkup Newsroom in hopes of preventing tragedies to other families.

“It was just a normal day at the pool,” said the girls’ father.

They were at a community pool on a recent July afternoon. The two girls, ages 5 and 6, had been playing in the water for less than 5 minutes when their brother decided he wanted to get out.

“All three were in my line of site. I watched my son get out of the pool. I took my eyes off the water for a matter of seconds to give him a cookie. When I looked at the pool again, I thought they were still playing.”

The father said he thought the girls were playing a game to see who could hold their breath the longest. He wasn’t too concerned since both take swim lessons twice a week and spend many hot afternoons in the water. He says he saw one girl jumping up and down, but the other stayed submerged. That’s when he jumped in.

“I grabbed her and started screaming for the lifeguards. Then I realized my oldest daughter was in trouble too.”

More than a dozen lifeguards rushed to their aid, along with a parent who also happened to be a nurse. Both girls were given CPR while another parent took their brother to get a popsicle so he wouldn’t have to see what was going on.

“It happened so fast. The entire episode couldn’t have taken more than 15 or 20 seconds,” said the girls’ father. “It’s not like you see in the movies, there was no splashing, no yelling. There were adults right there that didn’t even know they were in trouble.”

Unfortunately, this is something emergency room physicians and nurses hear all too often at Cook Children’s. Already this summer, 24 children have been admitted to the hospital for drowning and two have died. Over and over again, parents say they didn’t know their child was in danger because they didn’t see or hear anything.

“This is a huge issue in our community, especially in the summertime,” said Dana Walraven, community health outreach manager for Cook Children’s. “Parents may not realize how quickly children can drown, that’s why we teach ‘layers of protection.’”

Layers of protection are safety techniques that have proven to be effective ways to prevent drowning.

They are:

• 100% adult supervision while children are in and around water
• If you are alone with your child, stay with your child. Get in the water with your child and be in arm's reach.
• Swim with U.S. Coast Guard-approved life vests. Don't use floaties filled with air.
• Learn to swim at any age.
• Learn CPR.
• Install a fence on all sides of a backyard pool or spa. Secure the fence with a self-latching gate.
• Use alarms that can be put on children's wrists.
• Update pool/spa drain covers.
• Follow pool rules and signs.
• Install door alarms to alert adults when a child is entering the pool area.

The father who shared his story about his daughters says the depth of the pool played a big part in their close call.

He says he believed the pool was two and a half feet of water, but it actually became deeper in areas.

“My youngest daughter is fearless. She swam into the deeper area without me realizing it. Her older sister saw what was happening and was trying to help.”

He says if he had known the water became deeper, the girls would have been wearing their life vests.

“I’m one of the lucky ones. I got there in time to get them out. The lifeguards did a great job. I could have easily been planning a funeral right now for two little girls.”

Both girls were released from the hospital just one day after the incident. Their father says both are doing great and even had a plan for what they wanted to do once they were able to leave Cook Children’s

“When we left the hospital, the girls (as a family) wanted to go to thank the lifeguards for everything they did for us. My youngest response was "after we thank the lifeguards, can we go swimming?"

Lifeguard Your Child

Did you know that Texas is #1 in the nation for child pool drownings, or that drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for children ages 1 to 4? This year, Cook Children's is asking all parents to #LifeguardYourChild around water. For more information about how to protect your children around water, including where to find swim lessons and what to look for when purchasing a life-saving device, visit our drowning prevention website.

February isn’t over and already four children have been treated for near-drowning accidents at Cook Children’s Emergency Department. All of these incidents occured in swimming pools.

“So often we think of the summer months as the time when we see drownings,” said Sharon Evans, Trauma Injury Prevention coordinator at Cook Children’s. “But as long as a child is around water, the threat is real for a child to drown. In Texas, we have 70 or 80 degree days during the winter and kids are outside playing around pools. If you have a pool, parents should be outside with their child. If not, the results can be tragic.”

The threat of drowning is a continuing concern well before summer begins. By the end of April 2016, 12 children were admitted for drowning injuries (9 in a pool) at Cook Children's, including two that were fatal (one pool death, one pond).

Even non-fatal, or near, drownings can be devastating for a child. Corwin Warmink, M.D., medical director of the Cook Children’s Emergency Department, says there’s a large amount of children who survive a drowning, but end up with catastrophic outcomes. The most effected parts of a near-drowning victim are the brain, lungs and kidneys. “The one that is most catastrophic and the one that will kill you is the brain,” Dr. Warmink said.

As a parent, Dr. Warmink stresses supervision of his own children in the pool. He calls it a hallmark of making sure children are safe. Half of all drownings occur within 25 feet of an adult.

“Children should never be in water without adults watching them,” he said. “If you have a toddler, that child shouldn't be in water without what we call touch supervision. You need to be in hand's length and it's not just pools. That includes bathtubs or any other container with water. I've seen kids drown in buckets. A child can drown in any water, even a few inches deep.”

The most important step a parent can make in making sure their child is safe around water is simply being present without distractions. Drowning is silent and quick, so a grownup should be watching children near water at all times and never leave, even for a brief moment.

“Active adult supervision and layers of protection such as door alarms and a fence can lower the risk for your child,” Dana Walraven, Community Outreach manager said. “The majority of these water-related incidents happen in the child’s own backyard pools and to children 4 years old and younger. Preventing pool drownings begins with adult supervision.”

Children are protected by layers of protection by using these safety techniques whenever children are around the pool:

• Always have adult supervision present when children are swimming or around pools.
• A fence with a locking gate should surround the pool.
• Install door alarms to alert adults when a child is entering the pool area.
• Require life jacket use for non-swimmers.
• Enroll children in swimming lessons.
• Parents and caregivers should undergo CPR training.

Other Resources:

• NRH Water Safety 365 Drowning Prevention Coalition
• Grownups be smart: Put down the phone at the pool
• 9 Ways to Protect Children From Drowning
• What Your Children Should Do If They See Someone Drowning
• Is Your Baby Ready For Swim Lessons?

• 2 deaths to begin the month of July
• 26 non-fatal drownings from June 1 to July 1, 2015
• 43 non-fatal drownings from Oct. 1, 2014 to July 1, 2015
• 4 fatal drownings during that same time frame

And now we head into the July 4^th weekend where people will be throwing pool parties at their house or apartment or going out to area lakes … and at many of those parties there will be drinking.

So what’s left to say? Sharon Evans, Trauma/Injury Prevention outreach coordinator at Cook Children’s, admits to being tired, frustrated, sad and even a little angry that no matter how much the message is delivered, kids drown.

“I feel like a broken recording at this point,” Evans said. “But I don’t know what else to do. We have to keep telling people. We have to keep getting the word out. Tell your friends. Tell your neighbors. Tell your other family members. Kids are dying.”

And then Evans collects herself to deliver the message again.

“I don’t think people know how quickly it happens,” Evans said. “It’s just seconds and it’s a silent killer. Kids died silently. You can’t just let your kids go. Water is dangerous. It scares me because now we are headed toward the July Fourth weekend.”

If nothing else, Evans wants to make sure everyone reading this gets this point.

“It can happen to you,” Evans said. “I can say it, but I don’t think people really realize it. It can happen to you. Don’t take your eyes off of your child. You have to hold on to his or her hand sometimes. The most important thing is to be there for your child. And my God, whatever you do, you can’t let your kid go swimming or to the water alone. You have to have adult supervision.”

Evans speaks strong, but you can hear the pain and heartbreak in her voice. She’s seen a lot of this in her career and twice the amount of drownings over the last month as she saw last year. And what troubles her the most is that she knows no matter how much she speaks about drowning prevention, she will see more again.

“I wish I had a better line, a better solution,” Evans said. “I don’t know what else to say. I just know it’s preventable, if we take the right precautions.”

Click to read the following information for those precautions:

• Drownings double from a year ago 
• Be a water watcher. Adult supervisions saves lives.
• Is your baby ready for swim lessons?
• Drowning tragedy - 'I can't believe this happened to me.'
• Cook Children's drowning prevention page