A two-year-old toddler is in critical condition on Tuesday night, after she nearly drowned underneath the bridge by the Reading station in northern Tel Aviv. She was evacuated to Dana Hospital for children at the Ichilov Medical Center suffering from hypothermia among other issues caused by her drowning. A spokesperson for the hospital said that after she received treatment, her status was upgraded to moderate condition and she was taken off a respirator and is awake.
The girl went into the water, together with four of her siblings who were out for a day of fun in Tel Aviv. Magen David Adom and United Hatzalah EMS personnel received an alert just before 7:30 p.m. regarding the drowning incident.
First responders treated her at the scene and warmed her in a special thermal blanket that reflects body heat.
B’Terem, an organization that works to advocate safety for children stated that since 2008, 183 children have drowned to death in Israel, and that of those 26 of those incidents took place in 2018. Over the entire course of 2017, only 15 children drowned.
Orli Silvinger, the Director of B’Terem said: “The summer is only half over and already we can declare a state of emergency with regards to drownings. Every week we hear another story of a shocking drowning that took place. Drowning are preventable deaths, that can be stopped with continuous active oversight of children near bodies of water. Near any body of water, all parents must be within arms reach of their child, and must not have any distractions.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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