Near Drowning at Lansdowne/DMB Camp

I realize this did not happen in the Broadlands, but thought this was relevant as my child was there this week and in the pool with another group of children before this incident happened, and potentially others may have attended or considered attending the DMB Summer Camp programs out in Lansdowne.

Below is a snippet from the Loudoun Extra Section article today on this. Its horrible that this happened and hope the boy makes a full recovery. As a parent with a child there, it certainly shook our family up and will cause us to be hyper -vigilant with pool safety and also the need to really understand how summer camps handle the general safetey and well being of the kids while they are there.


6-year-old attending a day camp at the Lansdowne National Conference Center was in critical condition after nearly drowning while participating in the camp's pool activities.

Shortly after noon, the Loudoun County Emergency Communications Center received a 9-1-1 call for a possible drowning at the conference center, located at 18980 Upper Belmont Place in Lansdowne. A lifeguard pulled the boy from the pool. The boy was unconscious and the lifeguard and members of the center's medical emergency response team had begun administering CPR when the county's emergency crews arrived.

The boy was transported to Inova-Lansdowne Hospital where he is currently in stable condition. The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office is investigating the incident.

 

My kids attend the DMB Sports Camp and we're waiting to hear some kind of explanation. We are still sending our kids to the camp with full swimming gear, but we are anxious to hear about the situation and what *really* happened. Of course we'll be hyper-vigilant as well and we're scaring the crap out of our kids when it comes to water safety. I'm looking forward to the LCSO's report.

 

We received an email from the Director of the camp the evening it happened, offering a little bit of information. If your children attended one of their camps last week, I would have thought they would have sent the note to all families with kids there.

The near drowning happened on Thursday 7/23, and we were told the pool was shut down on Friday 7/24. I am not sure what their plan is for the coming weeks.

If you have ever seen the pool at the Lansdowne National conf. center that DMB uses I would consider it relatively small, so with two lifeguards on duty plus other DMB staff supposedly in the area I have no idea how something like this could have ever happened.

I too look forward to receiving more information and the results of the investigation. We had considered sending our child to another week or two of camp there later in the summer but obviously have to seriously reconsider that given what happened.

There is one side of me that thinks given what happened, going forward the lifeguards and staff will really be on their toes and one would think it would be pretty safe. On the other hand I am not sure if I can return my child to a situation where something like that happened in the first place.

 

My son went to a few camps there this summer and will be going back for one more week later in the summer. I have had concerns about their pool for the kids. According to my son, the pool depth goes from 3.5 feet on the shallow end to 12 feet at the deep end. They give swim tests to the kids at the beginning of the week and, if the kid doesn't pass the swim test, they are told to stay in the shallower end of the pool. There is no way for the staff to know who passed the test aside from their memories(there are no patches or other identifying things to differentiate each other). Some times the counselors get in the pool, sometimes they don't.

They do provide noodles for the kids to play with on some days, however we all know that noodles are not meant to be substituted for flotation devices.

I know the Lifetime Fitness pool has a huge stash of kids lifevests for patrons to use while they're there. Might be a worthy investment for DMB.

Does anyone know whether they would allow a child to bring their own lifevest to wear in the pool? Kmart has Coast Guard approved lifevests for as little as $12.

I would love to hear a follow up to this story. I am devastated for this family.

 

We received an email last night saying that the children are now going to be wearing colored wristbands indicating where in the pool they are allowed to go PER PARENT DIRECTION. There will still be swim tests, but the parents signed a form this morning indicating where their children would be allowed to swim. There will also be another lifeguard added to the pool.

Even though this horrible incident happened, I don't think it's right to immediately say no to their camp. No one knows what really happened and until then everyone needs to remain hyper-vigilant.

Maybe the life vests would be worth the investment to Lansdowne Conference Center, not necessarily DMB. Do all of the other summer camps out there purchase life vests for the kids to use every summer? Regardless, a lifevest is ALWAYS allowed in a pool. Pool toys (like noodles and such) maybe not. I did see one camper this morning at drop off that had a life vest in their bag.

My kids were prepared this morning when I dropped them off that they're to follow all pool rules extra carefully and to stay near a counselor in the water.

DMB just now called me to verify the access I gave to my boys for the pool. They're being extra vigilant as well and I appreciate that.

 

Thanks for the follow-up, luftinarr. I am always nervous when it comes to kids and water (especially when I'm not there to supervise). I know these unfortunate incidents can and do happen. This just hits really close to home. I am glad to hear DMB is addressing the issue and has taken steps to prevent further problems. My son will be going back. He has really enjoyed the camp experience there so far.

I don't know which is safer, a camp that has a pool or camps that take field trips to local water parks... I don't know of any camps in the area that don't do any pool related activities.

 

bad things can happen anytime, anywhere, even under the best of care. if DMB was properly supervising the kids and this was just one of those things- I'd hate to see them and their reputation take a huge hit. i know of great programs that have been ruined by one bad unfortunate incident. on the flip side- there are programs whose LACK of vigiliance was exposed in the same way.

regardless- you can never be lulled into a false sense of security no matter WHAT program you choose. you can certainly stack the odds in your favor by doing your homework, teaching your kids survival skills, etc., but we always have to realize that even under the BEST of care, bad things can happen.

 

My six year old also attends DMB Sports Camp and was at the pool when this incident happened. This has always been one of my worst fears and the telephone call I received from the staff on Thursday scared the $#%@ out of me.

Despite this incident I still trust the management and staff at this camp with my son. We are continuing with the summer program and are pleased with the additional measures put in place at the pool to keep the kids safe.

By the way, does anyone know the status of the boy who nearly drowned? I really hope he makes a full & quick recovery.

 

I don't know the status of the little boy. I know who he is, but not his status. I too hope that he is making a full and quick recovery.

If anyone has been to Great Wolf Lodge, the lifeguards there are awesome. Yes, even they have had an unfortunate incident, but those guards are literally on their feet walking all pools at all times. Lifeguards sitting in chairs vs. lifeguards in the pools and the sides of the pools walking. I'd like to see the lifeguards a little more proactive and less reactive.

 

Boy recovering after nearly drowning at sports camp in Lansdowne
By Jana Wagoner
Source: Loudoun Times-Mirror
THURSDAY, JULY 23 2009
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 2009

[FONT=verdana,geneva]A 6-year-old boy is in stable condition after nearly drowning July 23 at a sports camp at the National Conference Center in Lansdowne.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]The boy, who was participating in the DMB Sports camp, was found unresponsive underwater in the deep end of the pool at the conference center and was brought to the surface by a lifeguard, Loudoun County Sheriff's Office spokesman Kraig Troxell said.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Rescue personnel were called to the scene at about noon, Troxell said.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]When they arrived, the National Conference Center's medical response team was giving the boy CPR, Troxell said.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]The boy was taken to Inova Loudoun Hospital and then airlifted to Inova Fairfax Hospital, Troxell said.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]The boy's condition was critical but stable when he arrived at Inova Fairfax, Troxell said.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Later July 23, his condition was upgraded to stable, and he was able to follow commands and move his arms and legs, Loudoun County Fire-Rescue spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Lisa Craig, CEO of DMB Sports released the following statement on the incident.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]"We have run our camp program without a major incident for seven years. Despite having proper procedures in place, safety was not achieved on Thursday, and we are very upset this has happened under our watch. We are grateful that the emergency response we executed worked. We are thankful the family has updated us on his recovery; this is what has fueled us as we have been working non-stop to evaluate what happened and ensure this does not ever happen again." [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Craig said that the pool at the sports camp was closed July 24 and July 27 while DMB Sports, the National Conference Center and Palm Pools restructured procedures for the camp's swim time.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]The pool reopened July 28.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]To try and prevent anything like the July 23 incident from happening again, DMB Sports has implemented a color wristband system.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]With the wristbands, staff can easily see which swimmers are only allowed in the shallow end and which are allowed in the deep end, Craig said.[/FONT]