A 2-year-old girl was hospitalized Tuesday after she was pulled unresponsive from a backyard swimming pool in Pembroke Pines, in the latest scare to rattle a South Florida city already on edge over child drownings this summer. The near-drowning happened along the 600 block of Northwest 157th Avenue, where Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue units responded to a 911 call from the girl's family.
Sky 7 footage showed the scene from above just after noon as rescue crews worked to stabilize the toddler, according to WSVN. Fire rescue units administered CPR to the girl upon arrival, and the station reports she was awake and breathing by the time paramedics transported her to Memorial Hospital West. That detail matters: medical research relayed by the Florida Department of Health shows that nonfatal drownings can cause severe brain damage in as little as four minutes without oxygen, making the speed of that on-scene CPR potentially decisive for the child's long-term outcome, per WaterSmart Broward.
A Second Pembroke Pines Pool Emergency in Days
Tuesday's incident comes just three days after Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue responded to another child near-drowning on August 8, when a toddler was pulled from a pool and rushed to Memorial Hospital Miramar, according to the Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue Department. Hoodline reported on that earlier case as part of a broader pattern of child pool emergencies hitting the city this summer. Two separate submersion calls within the same week underscore how quickly backyard pools can turn dangerous once summer heat sends families outside.
The cluster fits a grim statewide pattern. The Florida Department of Health reports that drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death among children ages 1 to 4 statewide, with Florida consistently ranking among the highest states nationwide for child drowning rates. County-level data is just as stark: the Florida Department of Health in Broward County identifies accidental drowning as the single leading cause of death for children ages 1 through 4 locally, with most incidents happening in home pools when a child is left unsupervised even briefly.
Health Leaders Had Already Sounded the Alarm
The timing lines up with warnings issued earlier this summer. In July, healthcare and community leaders from Broward Health, Nicklaus Children's Health System, YMCA of South Florida, and the Children's Services Council of Broward County held a joint water safety briefing in Fort Lauderdale to warn of a surge in South Florida child drownings, as reported by the Sun Sentinel. Statewide legislative analyses show 94 children died from accidental drowning across Florida in 2023, while Florida TaxWatch has put total unintentional drownings among Florida youth ages 0 to 18 at more than 300 cases annually.
It remains unclear from available reporting whether the Northwest 157th Avenue property complied with Florida's Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act, which requires at least one approved safety measure — such as a perimeter fence at least 48 inches high with self-closing, self-latching gates, an exit alarm on doors leading to the pool area, or an approved pool cover — before a residential pool can pass final inspection, per the Florida Senate. Florida Building Code Section 454 further requires that pool barrier gates swing outward, away from the water, with self-latching devices mounted at least 54 inches above ground level so toddlers cannot reach them.
Resources for Broward Families
Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue operates an authorized American Heart Association Training Center at its headquarters on Pines Boulevard, offering free public CPR and Stop the Bleed training sessions to residents by appointment, according to the City of Pembroke Pines. Broward families can also tap the county's SWIM Central program, which works with the Florida Department of Health in Broward County to offer $55 discount vouchers that offset the cost of formal swim lessons for children ages 6 months to 8 years old.
The girl's condition beyond her arrival at Memorial Hospital West has not been detailed in available reporting. Whether code enforcement or any other agency is reviewing the property's pool barriers has not been reported.
