Two-year-old toddler drowns in Top End home pool, found by another child: Police

Police say a toddler who drowned in a pool in the Top End was understood to have been found by an older child.

UPDATE: A toddler who drowned in a pool in Katherine was understood to have been found by an older child, police say.

In a statement, NT Police said emergency services were called to a Katherine residence on Saturday after the two-year-old was found unresponsive in a pool during a “social gathering”.

“It’s understood the toddler was located by an older child and an off-duty nurse attempted CPR before paramedics arrived,” Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Lawson said.

“Resuscitation attempts continued, but the little one was declared deceased at Katherine Hospital.

“Losing a child like this is every parent’s worst nightmare and our thoughts are with the family,” Sergeant Lawson said.

St John NT operations manager Craig Garraway said paramedics were called to the home about 2.30pm.

“(This) just highlights how quickly these things can happen and as parents we all do the best we can to look after our kids, but sometimes these things happen and it’s so sad,” he said. A report is being prepared for the coroner.

It comes weeks after a two-year-old nearly drowned in a pool in Darwin.

Mr Garraway had described the incident as a near-disaster.

“It could have been a lot worse,” he said at the time. “It’s a parent’s worst nightmare (drowning). They call it the silent death.”

According to the Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report 2021, there were five deaths by drowning in the Territory in 2020-21. It was a drop of 44 per cent from nine drowning deaths in 2019-20.

Twenty-five to 34-year-olds died by drowning the most at 40 per cent, while 20 per cent of the deaths related to children under the age of four.

Sixty per cent of the drownings in 2020-21 were in a swimming pool, 20 per cent at the beach and 20 per cent in a river/creek.

Sixty per cent of drownings also related to swimming and recreation activities.

Eighty per cent of drownings in 2020-21 occurred ­during the wet season.

EARLIER: A TWO-YEAR-OLD has tragically drowned in a backyard pool over the weekend, despite the best efforts of first responders to resuscitate the child.

St John NT operations manager Craig Garraway said about 2.30pm on Saturday, paramedics

were called to the scene in Katherine and began performing CPR.

The child was rushed to Katherine Hospital. Mr Garraway said she had died at the hospital.

“(This) just highlights how quickly these things can happen and as parents we all do the best we can to look after our kids but sometimes these things happen and it’s so sad,” he said.

Mr Garraway said there was also another report of a patient spitting in the face of a crew member over the weekend.

“It makes no sense, we go there to help people and then they get treated in this way and then they start to attack the ambulance,” he said.

“So very sad and disappointing but unfortunately this is happening way too regularly.”

Mr Garraway said he did not have further details of the incident, other than that it occurred in Karama. He did not know if the man had been apprehended by police.

“Police were involved and I’m sure the police are taking actions that need to be taken against these people,” he said.

Meanwhile, two e-Scooter accidents happened within the space of 30-minutes of each other on Friday night.

Mr Garraway said both riders sustained head injuries, with one sent to the Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH) for further treatment. “He’s recovering okay,” Mr Garraway said.

Separately, a number of people sustained head injuries after a three-car crash occurred on Chung Wah Terrace about 8.30am on Saturday.

Mr Garraway said the injuries were caused by glass and the victims were transported to Royal Darwin Hospital for further assessment.

“It wasn’t a good start to their weekend,” he said.