It started as a typical morning for Heather Broussard. Her husband had taken her two older sons to school and it was just her and 17-month-old Mazie at home.

After breakfast, Broussard was putting away dishes and Mazie was playing. Then things got quiet.

Broussard looked for her daughter, who wasn’t yet walking, in the living room and downstairs bedrooms. Broussard said she wasn’t freaking out because she knew her daughter had to be inside.

She started up the stairs since her boys had left the baby gate open. But something told her to go outside.

None of the doors were open, but Mazie had gotten outside through the doggie door, which Broussard said Mazie never paid attention to before.

Broussard found Mazie in the deep end of the family’s pool.

A 911 operator walked Broussard through CPR. Mazie spent the night in the ICU, and “fought hard,” Broussard said. But Mazie died on Oct. 21, 2020.

After Mazie’s death, Broussard and her family have made it their mission to warn others of the potential dangers of children drowning through their nonprofit Mazie’s Mission.

“Since then we have realized what need there is in this community, really throughout the state of Louisiana, to focus on water safety awareness and drowning prevention,” Broussard said.

“We can’t let our guard down as parents. I never would have thought it could have happened to us and you just can’t be too aware and be too safe when it comes to your children around water.”

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Outside of birth defects, more children ages one through four die from drowning than from motor vehicle crashes, Louisiana Department of Health Regional Public Health Director Dr. Tina Stefanski said. In the U.S. about 365 children ages zero to 14 die annually from drowning.

From 2017-2019, there were 53 children who died from drowning, according to the Louisiana Department of Health. Last year, 25 infants and children in Louisiana died from drowning. Most deaths occurred in a pool, hot tub or spa.

“(We need) parents to know how common drowning is and that we’re seeing an increase in Louisiana after a few years of decreasing drownings in children,” Stefanski said. “We’re not helpless against this.”

Stefanski said one of the most important things is supervision and designating an adult who will watch the children. That person can take responsibility in 15-minute blocks and should stay vigilant even when children get out of the pool if they decide to go back in.

“It’s easy for adults to be distracted whether it’s the phone, they’re attending to other children, they’re preparing food or snacks, whatever it could be,” Broussard said. “All it takes is seconds for something to happen. And drowning is silent.”

The designated supervisor should be within arms length of the children swimming.

Stefanski also recommended putting barriers around pools, spas and hot tubs. And children should be wearing floatation devices, like life jackets, approved by the U.S. Coast Guard. Adults should learn how to perform CPR.

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Stefanski encouraged families to teach their children how to swim.

An important part of that is survival swim, targeted at children six months to six years old, where they’ll learn to roll onto their back to float and rest until help arrives.

Broussard said every health region in Louisiana has a certified infant swim resource instructor except Acadiana, something Mazie’s Mission hopes to change by the end of the year.

Families can learn more about pool and water safety at www.poolsafely.gov/about-us.

Contact Ashley White at adwhite@theadvertiser.com or on Twitter @AshleyyDi.