20-Month-Old Boy Drowns in Unfenced Pool

YORBA LINDA — A 20-month-old toddler drowned Wednesday after he apparently wandered into the backyard of his grandparents’ home and fell into an unfenced pool, Orange County Fire Authority officials said.

The child, Justin Cheung, was pronounced dead on arrival at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Anaheim.

His relatives, as well as police officers and paramedics, had unsuccessfully performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation before his transfer to the hospital, fire officials said. Police said the boy and his parents were visiting from Chicago.

Officials did not release the names of the boy’s parents or grandparents.

The accident occurred about noon in the 20300 block of Via Manresa, Fire Capt. Scott Brown said.

The toddler, who was wearing a diaper, had wandered out of the house and apparently fell into the pool, where family members later found him without a pulse and not breathing, Brown said. Family members told police the child had been missing about five minutes.

The drowning is the first in the county since September, the captain said, when Orange County Fire Authority and Children’s Hospital of Orange County outlined a jointly sponsored Water Watcher program. The program encourages people to designate an adult who knows CPR to watch over children in or near a pool.

Last year, there were 35 drownings or near-drownings in the county, resulting in 12 fatalities, Brown said. “That represents almost an entire preschool class that succumbed to the tragedy,” he added.

Fire Authority and CHOC officials are trying to bring together people from the swimming pool industry to look at other strategies to combat drownings, Brown said. Most victims of drowning in pools are younger than 5 years old, he said.

“It’s an epidemic . . . a tragedy that can happen any time, anywhere,” he said. “Usually, there is no criminal intent or negligence involved--simply an oversight.”

For more information about childhood drowning prevention, call the Orange County Fire Authority, community relations and education section, at (714) 744-0496.