2-year-old dies after drowning in Ra’anana family pool

Toddler rushed to a hospital in Kfar Saba, but doctors forced to declare him dead despite efforts to resuscitate him

By ToI Staff 27 September 2019, 8:04 pm

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Illustrative: Medics at the scene of a drowning at Kibbutz Yifat in August 2019. (Magen David Adom)

A two-year-old boy died after falling into a family’s backyard pool and drowning, in the central town of Ra’anana on Friday.

The Magen David Adom emergency service said the toddler had been pulled out of the water by the time medics arrived at the scene. They evacuated the boy to the hospital while performing CPR on the way.

But doctors Kfar Saba’s Meir Hospital were forced to declare his death shortly after arriving, “despite extensive efforts to resuscitate him.”

Hebrew media said the boy had managed to exit the house and reach the pool without family members noticing.

Last month, an 18-month-old who was found unresponsive in a family pool in the southern town of Netivot died ten days after being hospitalized at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.

Since 2008, 205 children in Israel have drowned, including three last month and 10 this year, according to the Beterem – Safe Kids Israel nonprofit. Around half of the drownings have occurred in the home environment.