Mesa Fire and Medical and the Glendale Fire Department have joined together to spread the word about water safety through the easiest and most accessible platform — social media.
The two departments posted on their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts a video with a warning to keep kids safe and prevent drownings, especially with summer in full swing.
“Whether you live on the east side of town or the west side, drownings affect us all,” Ashley Losch, a spokeswoman with Glendale Fire, said. “The families see the most profound devastation and suffer unimaginably. But drownings take a toll of firefighters as well.”
The video shows firefighters on their way to a drowning call. The video then shows a parent doing chest compressions on a drowned child.
“The myriad of emotions felt by a firefighter as they hold a limp child in their arms is indescribable,” Losch said. “The pressure of a family looking on and praying that you will save their child is unlike anything you have ever experienced before.
“But what everyone needs to understand is that this is all preventable.”