|
Richard Bongiorno
Chief of Police
T o w n o f
S T O N E H A M
47 CENTRAL STREET
MASSACHUSETTS
02180
POLICE DEPARTMENT
(781) 438-1212
FAX (781) 279-0882
Press Release
Stoneham Police Warn of Motor Vehicle Breaks
The Stoneham Police Department would like to alert residents to a recent increase in the number of motor vehicle breaks occurring overnight. On August 6th, six vehicles were broken into in the Concord Road, Hanford Road and Rhuland Road area. On August 7th, seven vehicles in the Forest Street and Dewitt Road area were broken into.
The Stoneham Police remind residents of the importance of locking their vehicle and removing valuables when parking overnight. Throughout the year, a majority of thefts occur overnight from unlocked vehicles. Items frequently stolen include GSP units, laptop computers, wallets, i-Pods, and loose change. Vehicle owners are encouraged to remove their valuables and power cords when not in use. GPS units that adhere to the windshield often leave suction cup marks behind when removed. By not cleaning these marks or removing power cords, criminals may believe that a GPS or electronic device may be hidden within the vehicle and break-in searching for the device.
Residents are encouraged to call 9-1-1 immediately should they observe any suspicious activity.
####
Stoneham toddler hospitalized after pool incident
Courtesy of Stoneham Sun
A 1-year-old boy from Stoneham was pulled from a pool Monday morning, after he was found, unresponsive, floating face up in the low-end of the pool.
The mother was able to resuscitate her child before an ambulance arrived and rushed him to Winchester Hospital. The toddler, whose name has not been released at this time, is being treated at Children’s Hospital in Boston, according to a Stoneham Police report.
At around 10 a.m. Monday, Stoneham’s emergency dispatch received a phone call from a mother stating her toddler was unresponsive after accidentally falling into the family’s in-ground pool on Keene Street.
The family’s 20-year-old babysitter was watching the toddler and his 3-year-old sibling when she left the children unattended to retrieve a hose 15 feet away to clean the cement deck around the pool. Prior to retrieving the hose, the babysitter had removed the toddler’s dirty diaper, as well as his swimming bubble, in order to clean him. When she returned with the hose, she discovered the toddler, unresponsive, face up in the low-end of the pool.
The babysitter immediately jumped into the pool to get the child and brought both the victim and his sibling into the house where the mother was working on her computer.
The mother called 911 and began to perform chest compressions on the toddler as she spoke with the dispatcher. A 10-year dispatch veteran, Brian Johnston, immediately instructed the mother on how to perform Infant Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), and within approximately two minutes, Johnston heard the toddler regurgitate water and vomit from his lungs. He also heard signs of responsiveness.
Stoneham Police Officers Sheryl Rotondi and Edward Fucarile, as well as the Stoneham Fire Department and Action Ambulance, arrived to the residence soon after.
“Everything looks really positive in terms of the toddler’s condition,” said Police Chief Richard Bongiorno as of press time Tuesday morning. “At 3 p.m. [Monday], the parents said all the testing looked good and the child should be on his way to recovery.”
Ponzo: Keeping your child safe around the pool
By Safety Officer Joseph Ponzo/Safety first
Posted Jun 24, 2010 @ 03:46 PM
I recently wrote a safety article about backyard pool safety; however, it was suggested that I write an article geared towards the recent accident in Stoneham. As many residents already know from the recent media coverage, a young boy was found unresponsive in his pool after the babysitter turned away while changing his bathing diaper. This is a grim reminder of the dangers that a pool can present when young children are present.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, an estimated 260 children under the age of five drown each year in residential swimming pools and spas. Nationally, drowning is the fourth leading cause of death to children under five. Just reading these statistics sends chills down my spine both as a parent of four and as the safety officer. With these statistics in mind, I have decided to research some safety tips to help prevent any future accidents from occurring.
Never leave your child unsupervised in or around a pool no matter how old they are. Young children especially have a tendency of becoming curious and venture towards the water. As we saw recently, it can take seconds for a child to wander off and fall into the pool. Even if your child is older, they can dive into the pool and hit the concrete bottom or simply fall into the pool and bump their head on the sides, diving board or even the metal ladder. Your child can then become unconscious in the pool and drown.
If your child is younger and cannot swim or is a weak swimmer, always make them wear a United-States-Coast-Guard-approved life jacket that is fitted to their age/weight. Some life jackets are meant for children under age 2, to help keep their heads floating above water, while others are designed slimmer for older children. Make your child wear these life jackets even if they are not going into the pool anytime soon. Like I explained earlier, a slip and fall or curiosity could land your child in the pool. If you must take the life jacket off your child for any reason, make sure they can’t access the pool or you don’t let go of your child.
Always make sure your pool is fenced in from the neighbors. In many communities this is the code and if it’s not, make it a requirement for your pool. Sometimes neighborhood kids wander into your yard and without a fence it makes it extremely hard to prevent accidents in and around the pool when you’re not home.
A recent suggestion I received from a resident was to have a smaller fence put around the outskirts of the pool even if you have a larger fence surrounding the backyard of your pool. Maybe install a knee-high fence that can be easily removed when children are actually using the pool, so that the backyard can still be used in conjunction with the pool. Many residents have a fenced in backyard and then they have a full chain-link fence surrounding just the pool. This is a great idea and if you have the convenience of this second fence, keep it locked at all times when you are not using the pool.
If you have an above-ground pool, put the stairs going into the pool on hinges or make it removable so that kids can’t access it.
I have also researched products such as a water alarm for your pool that can detect any person that enters the pool either on purpose or accidentally. A recommended product by “The Today Show” was the water alarm made by First Alert. This is a small suitcase style device that mounts on the inside of the pool and will detect only when a person enters the pool and it will not detect any water toys or floats. This water alarm will then sound an audible alarm and from what I can see costs about $600. There are other cheaper products on the market, but this seemed to be recommended the best. This of course is in addition to watching your children and is not meant to substitute supervision.
Most importantly, take a CPR class! Many of the local ambulance companies have certified CPR instructors that constantly put on these classes for very cheap money. Not only is it a great tool to know around the pool, but it can be used anywhere and it increases the likelihood of survival in case of a heart attack or drowning.
I write this article not to scare anyone, but to help educate and diminish the probability of anyone getting hurt and to help make this sunny season safe and fun!
Remember — safety first!
Joseph Ponzo is the safety officer for the Stoneham Police.
| 
