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Bruce A. Hyma, MD
Dade County Medical Examiner's Department Miami, Fla

JAMA. 1990;264(11):1407.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor. —

Jumbelic and Chambliss¹ have described the significant health threat 5-gallon buckets are to infants and toddlers. In Dade County, Florida, since 1956, we have had five fatalities of toddlers drowning in 5-gallon pails and one toddler drowning in an ice chest since 1956. The manner of death in all six (mean age, 10.6 months) was determined to be accidental. It must be emphasized that these cases need to be thoroughly investigated through a cooperative effort by the medical examiner, law enforcement, and social services. Death of children below or above the toddler stage should be considered suspicious. Furthermore, careful attention must be paid to each individual's motor development, which may vary from toddler to toddler.

In our communications with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, they have identified 234 similar drownings from 1972 to the present. Perhaps a conspicuous written warning similar to that found on . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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