(NEW YORK) — Child drownings are on the rise, according to a new report, and experts warn that the pandemic has also put kids at an increased drowning risk this year.

“It was really hard for people to access swimming lessons last year,” Dr. Ben Hoffman, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention, told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “And from what I understand this year, it still remains challenging, because things have booked up pretty early.”

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently found an increase in pool- or spa-related fatal drowning incidents among children under age 15. There were a total of 404 fatalities in 2018, compared to 395 in 2017 and 392 in 2016.

While there was a decrease in non-fatal injuries in 2020 — 5,800 injuries related to pool or spa submersions in children under 15 compared to the 6,300 in 2019 and 6,400 in 2018 — the report states that the decrease was likely due to COVID-19, which saw the shutdown of public spaces nationwide.

Now, with the country reopening, experts say that we could see those numbers rise once again.

“Year over year, we’ve almost doubled our drownings, unfortunately,” Dr. Patrick Mularoni, a pediatric emergency physician at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, said.

Of those reported fatal drowning incidents between 2016 and 2018, 75% involved children under age 5, and 83% occurred at residential pools.

Last June, Emily Friske was isolating with her family in Valley Center, California, when her daughter Addie wandered off to the family pool. Friske later found Addie in it, on her side and not breathing.

“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare,” Friske told Good Morning America.

A former EMT, Friske and her husband, Jordan, performed CPR on Addie until an ambulance arrived.

“I thought, ‘This can’t be happening to us,'” Friske said.

Addie didn’t have a pulse for 20 minutes, and doctors worried she would have brain damage as a result, but she was awake within 24 hours. Her pediatrician called her recovery “miraculous” and told the family that doing CPR made all the difference.

“Please learn CPR,” Friske urged other families.

Learning CPR is among the CPSC’s top advice for how families can visit the pool safely this summer, particularly as experts warn that the pandemic has only increased the risk of drownings for children.

“As we enter the summer months, parents and caregivers must be mindful of the pandemic’s impact on their children’s swimming ability and water safety skills,” Robert Adler, the CPSC acting chairman, said in a statement.

Other advice from the CPSC includes never leaving a child in or near water unattended and installing proper barriers around a pool.

“Make sure that you designate someone to keep an eye on the children in and around the water each and every time,” Nychelle Fleming of the CPSC said.

But chiefly among these tips is making sure children know how to swim.

“As pools start to open up, I think it’s very important for parents to sign their children up for swim classes and get those kids learning how to swim,” Mularoni said.

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(SURFSIDE, Fla.) — Search and rescue teams have recovered four additional bodies in the pile of rubble from a collapsed building in Surfside, Florida, following the demolition of the remaining building, according to officials.

First responders were able to search in areas previously inaccessible due to the instability of the portion of Champlain Towers South that still stood following the partial collapse on June 24, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters at a press conference Monday morning.

Three bodies were recovered in the morning and an additional body was found in the afternoon, according to officials.

The death toll now stands at 28, with 117 still unaccounted for, Levine Cava said. The newly accessible areas were likely where a lot of the master bedrooms were located, where people were sleeping, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters.

While the demolition was critical to expanding the search for bodies closer to the standing building, it was also necessary as Tropical Storm Elsa approached the U.S. with winds that “could have brought it down in a matter that could not have been as controlled or predicted,” the mayor said.

The demolition went “exactly as planned,” and the building fell away from the pile that collapsed, Levine Cava said.

“Only dust landed on the existing part,” she said.

Crews received the “all-clear” about an hour after the demolition started around 10:30 p.m. Sunday, and first responders resumed the search by 1 a.m.

Levine Cava emphasized that search and rescue crews “took every action we possibly could” to search for pets that remained in the building prior to the demolition. Multiple full sweeps of the building, which included searches in hiding places such as closets and under beds, were conducted “at great risk to first responders,” the mayor said.

In areas of the building that were not accessible, ladders were used to place live animal traps on balconies, and doorways were opened to give pets the means to escape if they were able to, Levine Cava said. Drones with thermal imaging were also used.

“We went to truly great lengths to take every step that we could,” she said.

Levine Cava described the decision to collapse the entire apartment building as “devastating,” acknowledging the “great tragedy” for the surviving residents of the building, in addition to those who lost loved ones.

“To lose your home and all your belongings in this manner is a great loss as well,” she said.

Officials said it was too dangerous for survivors to enter the building to retrieve their belongings, DeSantis said.

“Obviously it wasn’t worth that risk,” he said. “We can not lose any more people.”

FEMA has been successful in signing families up for assistance, and the city has raised millions of dollars from donations around the world to assist survivors as well, Levine Cava said.

Although the forecast for Tropical Storm Elsa has the center of the storm on the west coast of Florida, there will still be intermittent heavy rain and localized flooding as well as strong gusty winds and the possibility of tornadoes in the region, which could still affect search efforts, said Robert Molleda, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service South Florida.

ABC News’ Rachel Katz contributed to this report.

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(ALTOONA, Iowa) — A boy is dead and another child is in critical condition after a raft overturned on a water ride at an amusement park.

The accident occurred at 7:35 p.m. local time on Saturday at Adventureland Park in Altoona, Iowa, when a boat on the Raging River ride overturned with six riders on it, according to a statement from the amusement park.

Three of the passengers were rushed to hospitals in critical condition while a fourth passenger suffered minor injuries, the Altoona Police Department said in a statement.

Eleven-year-old Michael Jaramillo died on Sunday as a result of his injuries, police said. Another juvenile was still in critical condition as of Monday afternoon, according to the police.

“Altoona Fire and Police were on the property and responded immediately,” Adventureland Park in its initial statement on Saturday night. “We want to thank them as well as Des Moines, Ankeny, Bondurant, Pleasant Hill and Delaware Township Emergency Services for their fast response … Our thoughts are with the affected families at this time.”

Adventureland Park said the ride had been inspected the day before and “was found to be in good working order” at the time of the accident. The Raging River ride will remain closed for more inspection.

The park released a second statement on Sunday night about the death of an injured rider.

“Adventureland is saddened to learn of the passing of one Guest involved in the Raging River accident on the evening of 7/3/21,” the statement said. “This investigation is ongoing and the ride remains closed. Adventureland is working closely with both the State and local authorities, and would like to thank them again for their efforts. At this time, we ask for your thoughts and prayers for the Guest and their family, as well as for our team members who were onsite.”

This is reportedly not the first fatal accident to have taken place in connection with the Raging River ride at Adventureland Park.

According to the Des Moines Register, 68-year-old Adventureland Park employee Steve Booher died in 2016 while working on the ride. He was helping riders get out of the rafts at the end of the ride and fell onto the conveyor belt, suffering a fractured skull along with a major brain injury, the paper reported. Booher died four days later.

Iowa’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration subsequently fined the theme park $4,500, according to the Des Moines Register — the maximum the agency could assess for that type of violation.

An investigation into Saturday’s incident is ongoing and the ride will remain closed during that time.

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