A 2-year-old boy was airlifted to a hospital after being found in a swimming pool at a home in St. Cloud, Florida, police said. St. Cloud Fire Rescue crews responded around 7:45 p.m. to a reported drowning at a house on Settlers Court, off Old Canoe Creek Road, after family members discovered the toddler in the pool and called 911.
According to WESH 2 News, St. Cloud police officers responded to the drowning call at the Settlers Court address, and 911 dispatchers with the St. Cloud Police Department gave CPR instructions to the family over the phone while help was en route. As reported by FOX 35 Orlando, dispatchers continued providing that phone guidance until paramedics arrived on scene to take over lifesaving care.
St. Cloud Fire Rescue paramedics continued treating the child before he was transferred to Orlando Health AirCare for transport, per the station's report. The police department coordinated with AirCare for the flight to a pediatric trauma center, per WESH 2 News. AirCare operates specialized medical helicopters that carry critically ill and injured children to Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, which functions alongside Orlando Regional Medical Center as part of Central Florida's Level 1 Trauma Center network, according to Vertical Magazine.
Neighborhood of Pools Off Old Canoe Creek Road
Settlers Court sits within the Canoe Creek Lakes subdivision in St. Cloud's 34772 ZIP code, a community of single-family homes built primarily in the early 2000s, many with private in-ground pools, according to Realtor.com. A St. Cloud Police Department spokesperson confirmed the incident to WESH 2 News and stressed what the department calls the ABCs of swimming safety: adult supervision, classes for kids or CPR training for adults, and barriers around bodies of water.
WESH 2 News describes the story as developing and says it will be updated as more information is released.
Florida's Toddler Drowning Crisis
The Settlers Court call comes amid what state data shows is an escalating public safety problem. Unintentional drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4 in Florida, where more than 500 total unintentional drowning deaths across all age groups occurred in 2023, according to the Florida Department of Health. Florida recorded 120 child drowning fatalities in 2025, the highest single-year total ever documented in the state, and at least 74 child drowning deaths through late July 2026, per WLRN.
Roughly 68 percent of child drowning deaths in Florida happen in residential swimming pools, according to data published by the Florida Department of Children and Families. Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4, with most drowning deaths among kids under 5 occurring in home pools.
Safety Rules and Research on Young Victims
Under Florida Statute §515.27, the Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act, new residential pools must include at least one approved safety feature — such as a 4-foot barrier fence with self-closing, self-latching gates, an approved safety cover, door exit alarms sounding at 85 decibels, or an ASTM F2208-certified pool alarm — to pass final inspection, according to Orlando Short Term Rentals. A Summer 2023 study from researchers at the UCF College of Medicine and Nemours Children's Hospital found that male children under age five had the highest drowning rates in the Central Florida region, with the vast majority of incidents occurring in swimming pools, as reported in Florida Pediatrician.
In recent years, Florida lawmakers have considered proposals aimed at curbing child drownings, including water-safety education for new parents and pool-safety requirements for properties built before 2000. The measures addressed education and pool-safety requirements.
