Broward community leaders rallied together to spark change after several child drownings and near drownings have taken place this summer. Officials at the swim safety conference at the L.A. Lee YMCA/Mizell Community Center in Fort Lauderdale shared safety lessons in an attempt to prevent future t ragedies. “We’re all here today because we’ve seen an alarming rate of drownings taking place in our community. And we’re coming together as a united front to hopefully prevent that next tragedy from happening,” said Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Chief Stephen Gollan. The meeting came after a string of incidents across Broward in recent weeks. A 4-year-old was pulled from a Plantation pool last Saturday. Days earlier, a 2-year-old was pulled from his family’s North Lauderdale pool. Both children were critically injured and were rushed to Broward Health Medical Center, according to officials. “These tragedies are heartbreaking because they are preventable,” said an official at the press conference. Earlier this summer, at least three other drownings changed several families forever. “In Florida, drowning still is the leading cause of unintentional death in children ages one through four,” said Dr. Gary Lai from Broward Health. Officials reminded parents that those deaths are preventable by implementing security around pools and safeguarding children from water. “Number one, adult supervision. Alarms, fences, sound systems that really alert us, even if you’re in the house and the door opens, we need to know,” said Sheryl Woods from the YMCA of South Florida. “Please, please, please take the time to educate your children how to swim,” said Gollan. One of the parents who lost a child to drowning shared her advice to others at the press conference. Twelve-year-old Jenny Nguyen died in 2011 at a pool party with friends after she did not know how to swim. “I lost my daughter Jenny because she could not swim,” said Anna Nguyen, Jenny’s mother. “Our family made a promise that her life will make a difference,” Anna is now on a mission to save children by partnering with the YMCA and other organizations. “Drowning is preventable, swim lessons are affordable,” said Woods. For a list of free swim lessons, see below: Miami-Dade Swim Lessons Broward Swim Lessons ...read more read less