South Florida Leaders Renew Call to Action as State Remains on Pace for Deadliest Year on Record

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MIAMI, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite repeated warnings from healthcare providers, first responders, elected officials and community organizations, children continue to lose their lives in preventable drownings across Florida at an alarming rate.

Just three weeks after community leaders gathered to sound the alarm ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, another series of tragic drownings has underscored a sobering reality: the message is still not reaching enough families.

"The heartbreaking reality is that we are standing here again because children are still dying," said Malvina Duncan, Injury Prevention Coordinator at Nicklaus Children's Hospital and SAFE KIDS Miami-Dade Coordinator.

Florida has now recorded 74 child drownings in 2026, including 15 across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. The state remains on pace to surpass 2025, the deadliest year for child drownings in Florida history.

On Wednesday, Nicklaus Children's Health System, Broward Health, YMCA of South Florida, Children's Services Council of Broward County, Florida Panthers, Water SMART Broward, Florida Department of Health, Florida Atlantic University CARD and community leaders gathered in Fort Lauderdale to deliver an urgent message.

Every drowning is preventable, but only if families act before tragedy strikes.

"We've seen an alarming rate of drownings taking place in our community, and we're calling on everyone to come together as a united front to prevent these tragedies from happening," said Stephen Gollan, Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Chief. "Please take the time to educate your children on how to swim, especially down here in South Florida."

The event also featured an emotional testimony from Ana Nguyen, whose 12-year-old daughter Jenny drowned while attending a birthday party in 2011. Today, Jenny's legacy lives through the YMCA of South Florida's "Swim for Jenny" initiative, which provides free swimming lessons to children throughout the community.

Community leaders emphasized that drowning remains the leading cause of unintentional death for Florida children ages 1 to 4 and urged every parent, grandparent, caregiver and neighbor to make water safety a daily priority.

"More than 4,500 people die by accidental drownings in the United States per year," mentioned Dr. Gary Lai, chief of emergency medicine at Broward Health Coral Springs. "That's about 12 per day and these statistics are very concerning, especially here in South Florida with all the bodies of water we have."

Health and public safety experts reiterated that preventing drownings requires multiple layers of protection, including:

• Constant, undistracted adult supervision with a designated "water watcher"
• Four-sided pool fencing with self-closing, self-latching gates
• Door and pool alarms
• Formal swim lessons beginning as early as age one, when appropriate
• U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets around open water
• CPR training for parents and caregivers
• Bright, highly visible swimwear and proper hydration

Officials stressed that drowning is often silent and can occur in less than a minute, even when adults are nearby.

"Water safety should never depend on a family's income, or zip code. Learning to swim is a fundamental skill that saves lives, cultivates confidence and opportunities, and builds community," said Dean Trantalis, Mayor of the City of Ft. Lauderdale. "I encourage all our neighbors to use this moment as a reminder to enroll your child in swimming lessons, create or review your family's water safety program and talk with your children about respecting the water."

Families can learn more about drowning prevention, find water safety resources and register for swimming lessons by visiting:

Nicklaus Children's Health System: https://nicklauschildrens.org/watersafety

YMCA of South Florida: https://ymcasouthflorida.org/water-safety

About Nicklaus Children's Health System — Where Your Child Matters Most™
For more than 75 years, Nicklaus Children's Health System has stood as a beacon of hope for children and families across the state of Florida and beyond. Nicklaus Children's Hospital is South Florida's #1 nonprofit, freestanding specialty licensed hospital exclusively for children. Nicklaus Children's provides pediatric care across a growing network of hospital and community-based partnerships, including within NCH North Hospital in Naples, Jupiter Medical Center, select Baptist Health Hospital pediatric emergency units, as well as at Nicklaus Children's Hospital Fort Lauderdale and Nicklaus Children's Hospital Coral Springs, each located on the campuses of Broward Health. The hospitals and their network of more than 35 outpatient locations offer lifesaving care in Miami-Dade, Broward, Martin and Palm Beach counties. Outpatient locations include an array of urgent, pediatric primary and specialty care centers and are either hospital-based or outpatient locations under Nicklaus Children's Pediatric Specialists, LLC (NCPS). Providing a pipeline of future physicians and groundbreaking research, Nicklaus Children's is an academic and clinical affiliate of the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and home to centers of excellence including the Helen & Jacob Shaham Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute, the Orthopedic, Sports Medicine and Spine Institute, the Neuroscience Institute and the Heart Institute. The 474-bed system is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine, with many programs routinely ranked among the nation's best by U.S. News & World Report since 2008. Nicklaus Children's also includes a nonprofit physician practice subsidiary with more than 40 pediatric specialties and an ambulatory surgery center. For more information, visit nicklauschildrens.org.

About Broward Health
Broward Health, founded in 1938 and headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, ranks among the 10 largest public healthcare systems in the United States. Nationally recognized for its focus on high-quality care for the residents of Broward County and beyond, Broward Health boasts four hospitals, two trauma centers, was the county's first statutory teaching hospital and has an ever-growing graduate medical education program. It includes more than 50 health centers and physician practices covering virtually every healthcare specialty. Broward Health never stops working toward its mission of Exceptional Care, Extraordinary Compassion and Everyday Excellence. Driven by more than 11,000 talented employees and physicians who deliver care to all patients, regardless of their ability to pay, Broward Health is one of the largest employers in Broward County with an operating budget of over $2 billion and annually provides over $523 million in charity and uncompensated care. For more information about Broward Health, visit BrowardHealth.org.

About the YMCA of South Florida
For more than a century, the YMCA has been woven into the fabric of the South Florida community. As an award-winning nonprofit, the Y is committed to strengthening community through more than 200 programs serving everyone from six months old to 100 years young. Its family centers and programs are inclusive, vibrant hubs of community life, offering a diverse array of classes, cutting-edge fitness facilities, lifesaving aquatics, exciting community events, unforgettable camps, supportive afterschool care, and holistic health and wellness programming. At the Y, there's something for everyone. Join the movement by connecting with us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, or visit YMCASouthFlorida.org.

Nathalie Medina, Nicklaus Children's Health System PR, nathalie.medina@nicklaushealth.org 

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SOURCE Nicklaus Children's Hospital