The Center for Children’s Health (C4CH), led by Cook Children’s, installed its first loaner life jacket station in the spring of 2020. The stations provide five different sizes of U.S. Coast Guard approved life jackets, ranging from infant to adult, that can be borrowed and returned. The goal is to make sure no child or adult drowns at a public lake because they didn’t have access to a life jacket.

“Texas has a lot of lakes and having a loaner station at entry points is a great reminder for families,” said Amy Johnson, program coordinator for the Center for Children’s Health. “The signage on the station not only explains how it works but also how to properly fit a life jacket.”

Sadly, the number of drowning patients seen at Cook Children’s this month has already surpassed the number of patients seen in the same time period of 2020. So far, 35 children have been admitted to Cook Children’s for drowning, with two deaths. Three of the drownings occurred at area lakes.

The loaner life jacket program has 12 stations at lakes across DFW, including:

• Cleburne
• Alvarado
• Flower Mound
• Grapevine
• Weatherford
• Lewisville

The stations are constructed by Lifeguard Your Child partner and Texas-based construction firm, Linbeck. C4CH plans to extend the stations to pools in neighborhoods and communities soon.

Cleburne resident Robin Kiel has lived across the street from Lake Pat Cleburne for more than 30 years. As a former pediatric intensive care (PICU) nurse, she has seen her fair share of drownings and fatalities.

Recently, the two new loaner life jacket stations at the lake caught her attention.

“I saw something out of the corner of my eye one day and went to check it out,” Kiel said. “Once I realized it was a loaner life jacket station from Cook Children’s, all I could think about was how many lives could be saved.”

Kiel and her family have seen several tragedies while living directly across from the lake. She recalls instances over the years when helicopters have landed in her yard to transport a child to the emergency room, or emergency personnel rushing past her house to save someone’s life. Kiel says these moments are hard to watch, but what’s even worse is watching the number of children who enter the lake without a life jacket.

“During my time as a nurse, I’ve seen tragedy after tragedy,” Robin explained. “The hardest part was the water fatalities that could have been avoided. There's a lot of children that swim without life jackets and it's dangerous in a lake. You can't see the bottom if they were to fall or get swept away. You can't find them once they're under the water.”

Kiel says with school out and summer in full swing, she expects to see thousands of people at the lake on the weekends and she is hopeful people will take advantage of the loaner life jacket stations.

“I think it's just really important to remind people that if you don't have a Coast Guard approved life jacket, there are some that are loaned here in two different places on our lake and they can just borrow them and put them back when they're finished for someone else.”

Tara Janszen is Kiel’s daughter and the president of the Cleburne Chamber of Commerce. She says she’s also thankful for the additional safety measure at the lake.

“The collaboration between Cook Children’s, Cleburne Fire Department, and the Cleburne Parks and Recreation department is something that will benefit our residents and visitors who come to Lake Pat Cleburne,” Janszen said.

Lake Pat Cleburne is also home to holiday celebrations, and more. Tara says the city is happy to have their Independence Day celebration back at the lake this year, and she is hopeful having the life jackets will be an added safety measure for families.

“We have thousands of people that come out to enjoy the lake for the day. We shoot fireworks off the dam that evening,” Janszen said. “We want people to have fun, but first and foremost, we want people to be safe. I think this new opportunity for kids to be able to loan or borrow a life jacket, and for families to utilize this program is going to make our event just even better this year.”

Johnson shares the same feelings. She wants people to get out and have a good time, without any tragedies. Thus far, the stations have been well-received at all six lakes.

“Our community partners and families are excited about having the stations and how easy they are to manage,” Johnson explained. “The feedback from lake-goers has been amazing, and they are using the life jackets, which is the goal.”

Kiel says she enjoys walking out of her front door and seeing neighbors and visitors enjoying the lake, and she is hopeful this summer will conclude with every family making it back home safely.

“I think the life jackets can help save lives,” Kiel said. “Drowning happens so quickly, and it’s such a tragedy for families. I think it could save a lot of children's lives and I believe that’s the goal for Cook Children’s and the City of Cleburne.”

Johnson understands families are excited to get together for the summer, but safety has to be the top priority for everyone to have a good time.

“We know everyone is eager to enjoy the summer, but along with that we know there are a lot of potential distractions,” Kiel expressed. “We want families to remember to have an emergency plan in place, always designate a pool and lake ‘water watcher’ for safety, and to remember to keep a child’s life jacket on until they are safely away from the water’s edge.”

Important to note:

If you live in a community with a lake or pool that could benefit from a loner life jacket station, send an email to Safe.kids@cookchildrens.org. To learn more about the loaner life jacket program and other safety measures, visit lifeguardyourchild.com

Water safety advocates urge parents to stay vigilant to protect their children over Memorial Day Weekend and throughout the summer as backyard pool parties start happening again.

People are excited to socialize in person as coronavirus restrictions ease up -- but they must still keep close watch on the kids in the swimming pool. Drownings can occur even with many adults present.

“Everyone is so eager to get back into a normal routine and have those gatherings as COVID-19 decreases,” said Dana Walraven, manager of community health outreach for the Center for Children’s Health, led by Cook Children’s. “We’re just hoping for a heightened sense of awareness. When people are so happy to get back together, there may be distractions.”

In 2019, prior to the pandemic, the number of drowning admissions at Cook Children’s hit 71. Seven of those patients died. By comparison in 2020, there were 48 drownings seen at the medical center, three fatal. Those statics include drownings in bathtubs and open water, such as lakes; the majority, however, occurred in swimming pools.

2020’s decline in drownings came as a happy surprise to those who work to prevent injuries and deaths due to accidents in the water. One possible explanation? Last summer’s social distancing kept many families and friends from meeting up in big groups. Those big gatherings tend to be occasions when everyone assumes someone else is supervising the swimmers.

Sharon Evans, trauma injury prevention coordinator at Cook Children’s, encourages adults to take turns as designated watchers, fully attentive and within arm’s reach of kids in the pool. Designated watchers can spot trouble before it turns into tragedy.

“They don’t talk, they don’t drink, they don’t look at their phones,” Evans said. “You have to have that person in charge of watching. That is your job for 10-15 minutes, then you pass it off.”

Evans said drowning cases typically ramp up starting on Memorial Day. The age group most susceptible to drowning in pools is 1- to 4-year-olds. Precautions should be taken as well for older kids, even if they’re strong swimmers.

Drownings can happen silently and swiftly. A submerged person might not attract attention or appear to be in danger.

“It’s not like it is in the movies where they’re thrashing around and yelling for help,” Evans said. “In real life it almost looks like they’re climbing a ladder underwater, and if they can get their head above water, they just get a breath.”

“Lifeguard Your Child,” a drowning prevention campaign created by Cook Children’s, aims to get the message out through a regional collaboration of partners from eight counties across North Texas. The coalition includes school districts, police and fire departments, pool builders and swim lesson providers such as the YMCA. “Lifeguard Your Child’ promotes safety strategies through its website, videos, online classes and social media.

“The biggest piece we’re trying to do is have parents think about water safety and drowning prevention all year long,’’ Walraven said.

Campaign partners came up with new methods to reach their audiences during the COVID lockdown. Those efforts included a shift to greater virtual education. And in spite of the pandemic, “Lifeguard Your Child” reached 6,950 adults and children with educational toolkits between October 2019 and September 2020.

Highlights for drowning prevention include:

• Young children should know to never get in the water unless an adult is within reach and watching. Learn to swim and swim with a buddy.
• Teens should be alert for hazards lurking in murky lake water. No horseplay or risky stunts. Wear U.S.C.G. approved life jackets.
• Caregivers should create barriers to the pool, such as four-sided fencing. Don’t lose track of the kids during the transition from swimming to the next activity (a trip inside to the bathroom, loading the car etc.). Hospital admissions data increasingly show that drownings tend to occur during these unplanned situations “when one child goes back for a toy, or a child wants to jump in one more time,” Walraven said.

In addition to the education component, “Lifeguard Your Child” has distributed 1,296 life jackets this year in drive-through events and through six loaner stations at area lakes. The program recommends only those life jackets approved by the U.S. Coast Guard. Proper fit is essential too.

For more information about steps to prevent drowning, go to www.lifeguardyourchild.org.

Now Cook Children’s is the first, and currently the only, hospital in the nation to house a life-saving investigational drug called miltefosine (trade name, Impavido) that could prevent other children in the state of Texas and surrounding states from meeting a similar fate.

Miltefosine is an oral drug encased in a blister pack. Until recently, miltefosine was only available through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and had to be shipped to hospitals on a patient-by-patient basis. Having miltefosine on hand at Cook Children’s means patients will not have to wait for a shipment to arrive, increasing their odds of survival. It also means quicker access to the drug for hospitals across Texas and the region.

The drug, originally created to treat leishmaniasis (a rare tropical parasitic disease), was administered successfully to a 12-year old Arkansas child in 2013, who had been diagnosed with PAM.

After reading about that child, Jeremy and Julie Lewis’ foundation, Kyle Cares, contacted the drug manufacturer about making the drug more widely available across the nation. Five “source hospitals” have been chosen across the nation to have miltefosine readily available at their hospital. Cook Children’s is the first source hospital to have the drug onsite.

“It means so much to us that Cook Children’s has this drug today,” Jeremy Lewis said. “In the worst case for us, Kyle passing away, Cook Children’s could not have been better to us. I’m glad it will be the home for miltefosine in the state of Texas.”

Rosanne Thurman, director of Pharmacy, was not at Cook Children’s when Kyle died, but she was immediately touched by the passion of his parents.

“For this family to go through such a tragedy and then to go the extra mile like they have to make sure other kids will have this drug, it really touched my heart,” Thurman said.

After doing the research on the drug, Thurman contacted Mary Suzanne Whitworth, M.D., Cook Children’s medical director of Infectious Diseases. Although the cases like Kyle are rare, she didn’t hesitate to say she wanted the drug at Cook Children’s.

Aug. 29, 2016, marks the “angelversary” of the death of their then 7-year-old son. Kyle spent the week being the outdoorsy little boy he was – swimming, fishing, boating and camping in Lake Granbury and the Paluxy River near Glen Rose, Texas. A perfect family weekend right before school started.

The Lewis family clings to those moments now before their little boy became ill and died.

Since Kyle’s death, his parents and their 16-year old daughter Peyton, have become passionate advocates to make people aware of brain-eating parasites that are common in fresh, warm water.

The Lewis family started the Kyle Lewis Amoeba Awareness Foundation with the goal of informing families of the potential dangers which exists in most freshwater.

“We hope that we can help other families not go through what we did with the death of Kyle,” Julie said. “We simply didn’t know the dangers. Our hope is we can save other families from going through the heartache that we went through then and continue to do so now.”

For many Texas kids, the summer means time for fun activities such as fishing, swimming and water skiing. Unfortunately those staples of summer could, in rare instances, also lead to serious health complications.

Dr. Whitworth says that children who spend time in still water run the greatest risk of the life-threatening parasite, entering their bodies. The dangerous amoebas are usually found in warm freshwater, such as lakes and rivers, but they could be in any standing body of water, including creeks or even puddles.

“Once a child is infected, everything happens very quickly,” Dr. Whitworth said. “We try our best to save the child’s life, but the parasites rarely respond to medications and are very difficult to treat. The infection tragically results in death almost uniformly.”

Use caution when swimming in fresh warmer water, especially in stagnant water. Naegleria fowleri grows best at higher temperatures from 80 degrees Fahrenheit up to 115 degrees (46 degrees Celsius) and can survive for short periods when the temperature rises even higher.

Do all you can to limit the amount of water going up the nose. Your best option is to keep your head above water, but you can reduce the chance to getting these infections inside the body by wearing nose plugs.

Dr. Whitworth says miltefosine has saved the lives of two children in the United States infected by these dangerous parasites.

“Prior to using miltefosine the infection was uniformly fatal, so this has given everyone great hope,” Dr. Whitworth said. “But no one knows if it will work every time and until a definitive cure is found, the most important thing is to be extremely careful if you are in fresh, warm water.”