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By Lauren Kobley
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Brandi Stoll is an Arizona native who grew up swimming in pools and was familiar with pool safety. When she became a mother, she knew the risks and how to keep her children safe around the pool, but her world changed in July 2021 when she found her almost-2-year-old daughter face down in her family’s pool.

Drowning is a leading cause of death for children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2023, there were 133 water-related incidents reported in Maricopa and Pinal counties, 50 of which involved children 5 and under, according to data from Children’s Safety Zone, which tracks Arizona data. Of those 50 incidents, 12 resulted in fatalities.

“Many times when it comes to a drowning call, especially with children, it’s due to a lack of barriers,” said Meghan Chute, a fire and life safety education specialist at Mesa Fire Department. “We think it’s important to have multiple layers of protection, including pool fences, locks on your doors, locks that children can’t reach and alarms, so people know when children are leaving the house.”

Stoll wishes she had better barriers that Saturday in the middle of an Arizona summer. Her children and their friends were playing at their house in the pool, and they decided to get out and grab a snack.

Stoll took off her youngest daughter’s floaties and sent the kids inside. After some time, her husband began calling out for their daughter Alizah. When he called for her a second time with no response, Stoll knew something was wrong.

As she looked across to the pool, she saw Alizah face down and immediately leaped into action and began CPR. After firefighters responded to the 911 call, the family spent five days in the pediatric intensive care unit not knowing if Alizah would be the same after the incident.

“She was put on paralytics and intubated to let her body rest and heal. So we didn’t know how much damage occurred … because I didn’t know how long she was underwater,” Stoll said.

Now, Alizah is a perfectly happy and healthy 4-year-old who loves the water, but not every story ends this way.

“We take every chance we can get to talk about it because we can. She’s still here with us and our outcome is very rare,” Stoll said.

After Alizah’s accident, Stoll found the Pool Fence Safety Program. Child Crisis Arizona, in partnership with the Salt River Project and the 493 Firefighter Foundation, work to promote water safety in Maricopa County with this program that provides selected residents with a free pool fence.

Applicants need to have a child under age 6 residing in the home. The program is solely for homeowners and includes income qualifications. Applications are in English and Spanish.

Part of the program is to provide education for families about intervention and prevention services. Child Crisis Arizona offers a free online water safety course in English and Spanish where families can learn best practices to keep children safe in the pool.

In the education courses, Child Crisis Arizona emphasizes the importance of the “ABC’s”:

A: Adult Supervision
B: Barriers
C: Classes (for swimming)

“We know that there’s a financial component to that (fences), so we want to remove that obstacle for families that aren’t able to afford a pool fence, but who know how important it is to keep those children safe,” said Caitlin Sageng, a senior programing director at Child Crisis Arizona.

The program installed nine fences in 2022 and 16 in this past year, providing protection for a total of 80 individuals across those households. The number of fences the organizations are able to award fluctuates each year based on funding and price of fence materials.

The application deadline for the 2024 Pool Fence Safety Program is March 24.

“Get that pool fence. Get the CPR lessons. Get swimming lessons,” Stoll said.

For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.

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A “Watch your children!” sign hangs on Sam Aguilar and Brandi Stoll’s pool fence on Feb. 21, 2024, in Phoenix. (Photo by Harris Hicks/Cronkite News)

Alizah Aguilar, 4, plays in her backyard on Feb. 21, 2024, in Phoenix. Alizah spent five days in the pediatric intensive care unit after a near-drowning in July 2021. (Photo by Harris Hicks/Cronkite News)

Sam Aguilar stands in front of his pool fence with his 6-year-old daughter, Ariella, playing in the background on Feb. 21, 2024, in Phoenix. The family had the fence installed after his nearly 2-year-old daughter, Alizah, almost drowned in 2021. (Photo by Harris Hicks/Cronkite News)

Brandi Stoll holds her 4-year-old daughter, Alizah Aguilar, on Feb. 21, 2024, at their home in Phoenix while discussing the family’s decision to install a fence around their pool. Alizah nearly drowned in the pool more than two years ago. (Photo by Harris Hicks/Cronkite News)

The indicator for the pool safety fence in Sam Aguilar and Brandi Stoll’s shows red, indicating it’s locked on Feb. 21, 2024, in Phoenix. Aguilar and Stoll installed this protective fence around their pool after their daughter, Alizah, then almost 2, nearly drowned. (Photo by Harris Hicks/Cronkite News)