A 3-year-old nearly drowned March 28 after falling into a swimming pool at a vacation rental in the 100 block of Crescent Drive in Anna Maria, according to a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office report.
The child’s uncle told police he realized the child was missing while loading his vehicle to join the rest of his family at the beach. On a search of the house, he found the child floating face down in the pool.
The uncle rescued the child from the pool, started CPR and called 911 at 4:12 p.m. The child reportedly became responsive and coughed up water before emergency medical services arrived.
EMS and police arrived at the address around 4:30 p.m. and took over medical treatment. Bayflite, an air emergency carrier service, was contacted and transported the child via helicopter to from the Holmes Beach city field to the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg.
“The child had no negative medical issues as a result of the near drowning and was expected to be discharged (March 29),” according to the MCSO report.
For privacy reasons, the child was not named.
As of March 30, the MCSO had closed its investigation into the incident. A report states, “There were no signs of abuse or neglect on scene and the near drowning appeared to be accidental in nature. No crime occurred.”
The incident is the second in two months in which a child almost drowned in a pool at an Anna Maria vacation rental following a similar incident Feb. 14 in the 200 block of South Bay Boulevard.
The 2-year-old involved in the South Bay incident had a positive prognosis and the MCSO investigation was closed as of Feb. 15.
A pool alarm at that property lacked batteries and was nonfunctional.
Following the February incident, the HBPD contacted registered vacation rental owners and managers asking them to ensure pool safety measures are in place and functional at their properties.
Officials from Holmes Beach also participated in a March 10 news conference organized by the West Manatee Fire Rescue District at Kingfish Boat Ramp in Holmes Beach to advocate for water safety and drowning prevention.
The city of Anna Maria did not take part in the news conference and Mayor Dan Murphy did not respond to related questions from The Islander.
In the March 28 incident, there were no alarms or safety measures, according to the MCSO report written by Detective Brian Moreland.
Moreland wrote that a deputy walked the property, including the exterior of the residence, and noted safety inadequacies — that there were no pool alarms on entrances to the pool.
The report also states that a representative from Beach Retreats, the property’s rental management company, responded to install new alarms.
The property is registered with the city as a vacation rental and was last inspected by staff Aug. 16, 2021, when it was found in full compliance with state law and city code.