Remembering the Nanny Who Drown Trying to Save Her Charge

Another beautiful day in Seattle today.  Got me thinking of summer fun and how important it is for kids to learn how to swim.  It’s fun, great exercise and essential to overall safety.  But what about the nannies? 

Last year a 60 year old nanny who couldn’t swim was left alone to supervise a child in a backyard pool (some papers reported she was supervising three children).   Although she was afraid of water, when the 3 year old child began struggling in the water she jumped into the pool to save him.  The child was pulled out of the water by his mother who saw the incident from the house and he was resuscitated by emergency workers.  The nanny drowned. 

I’m still stunned by that story.  So many questions unanswered.  Did the mother know the nanny couldn’t swim or did she simply think it could never happen to her child?  Did the nanny protest being left alone with children at the pool or did she stay quiet out of fear of losing her job or being required to take swim lessons?   How in the world did something so avoidable happen???

We’ll never know the answers to those questions but we can learn from the tragedy.  Before asking a nanny to supervise a child at a pool or beach with no lifeguard on duty, make sure she has had Basic Water Rescue training.  Yes, drowning people have been saved by non-trained by-standers but pulling a panicking person, even a child, from deep water is more difficult than many think.  This 3 to 4 hour course is offered through the American Red Cross and similar organizations.  Like CPR / First Aid, this is a small financial investment for parents to make in the safety of their child.