VDH urges pool safety pledge to help end drownings

RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) — The Virginia Department of Health announced Thursday that eight children under the age of five have accidentally drowned in pools across the Commonwealth so far in 2025, a spike from the last three years.

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“We have been informed yet again by the chief medical examiner’s office of more confirmed deaths of children under the age of five,” said Briana Bill, an environmental health coordinator with the Virginia Department of Health, “and we are now up to, I believe, eight confirmed child deaths, as a result of drowning in a pool-like setting.”

Suitable for swimmers of all ages, the Virginia Department of Health hopes a simple pledge — the Pool Safety Pledge — will stop the tragic trend. The pledge reinforces simple and life-saving safety practices, and the health department urges families to take it when visiting pools or any other body of water.

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The health department is urging families to take a “Pool Safely Pledge” when visiting pools or any body of water. The pledge reinforces simple and life-saving safety practices.

For adult, the pledge includes commitment to:

• Designate a water watcher every single time children in their care are in or near the water.

• Make sure their kids know how to swim.

• Always remove portable pool ladders when not in use.

• Ensure all permanent pools have a proper fence and gate and anti-entrapment drain covers.

“And then kids can take the pledge to also acknowledge the fact that they are aware of the potential danger and that they’re going to be safe,” Bill said.

For children, the pledge includes reminders to:

• Ask their parents to sign them up for swimming lessons.

• Stay away from drains in the pool or hot tub.

• Have fun and always follow these safety steps in and around the water.

“The tragic rise in drowning deaths of young children demands that we all become extra vigilant about pool safety,” said VDH Chief Deputy Commissioner for Community Health Services Susan Fischer Davis, MD.

Said Bill: “We wanted to just put the power into the people’s hands about how to continue to prevent drowning in the best way that they can.”

For more information about water safety, click here.

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