Many prayers that she is OK.

Praying for the little girl, her family and the lifeguards.

Having seen it firsthand I wish her family the best.

Of course, everyone's thoughts are with the girl and her family ... but the incident is over and we move on. Tomorrow is a HUGE national holiday with many families having extra time together during what may be one of the hottest and potentially most dangerous heat waves of 2012. The pool SHOULD BE OPEN. Regroup, buck-up and remind the lifesavers and staff that they must be prepared to handle any emergency and even potential death, at any time, and then get back to their jobs protecting everyone else. That's the way the real world works. There is no reason why an incident at mid-day on Tuesday should have any impact on operations Wednesday morning unless there is some mechanical or safety issue that demands that there be no access to these publicly paId for facilities. If we've built them, maintained them, staffed and programmed them, then there must be compelling reasons for these pools to be open and functioning during what may prove to be the hottest days of the summer.It's surprising that closing the pool beyond the time of the accident investigation is even being considered.

@Andy Smith-
"Buck up"- really??? Do you have any idea the impact this has on staff? This isn't business as usual. The lifeguards are put through rigorous training, but nothing can prepare anyone, let alone young staff, for this type of situation. Staff may be too shaken up to guard tomorrow. Maybe a day off is best for everyone.
My prayers are with the young girl and her family.

Logical that the pool will remain closed until investigation is complete. According to this article, the investigation is ongoing.

This particular taxpayer is thinking more about the victim's family and the teenage lifeguards who might need some time to process what they had to do yesterday. Not to mention the families that witnessed the event and held their children close. I am not too worried about how cold my backside stays in the hottest day of 2012. Telling a bunch of teenagers to "buck-up" is just asinine.

All of your hand-wringing emotionalism does absolutely NOTHING for the little girl in the hospital or her family and friends. "Buck up" is precisely the correct phrase: Would you like to know how many 16 and 17 year old young men lied about their young age and rushed to induction centers after Pearl Harber? They didn't need soccer moms to hold their hands. Perhaps all these terribly traumatized children you believe exist are, in part, having excess difficulty with something that's fairly common in swimming scenarios because of the out-of-control emotions with which YOU are reacting, and thereby enabling them to behave. If trained lifeguards and staff cannot handle a frigtening rescue or even a death at their pool, and re-open the facility for the hundreds of others in the communty for whom it exists, they need a different job or much better training. Stop emoting ... clear-headed thinking is needed in situations like this. If you are unable to offer it, step aside. Buck. Up.

Wow - how insanely selfish. "It's going to be hot today, and my tax dollars paid for that pool, so everyone better suck it up and get back to work, because I want to go swimming". As a fellow Brookfield taxpayer and the mother of two young children (one the same age as this little girl), I don't want to see that pool opened until the City has thoroughly investigated the incident and reviewed policies and procedures to see if changes could be made to prevent this from happening again.

Lord's sake, ladies, GET A GRIP. I am not going to the pool, I am not interested in going to the pool, and I am not in the least bit concerned about it opening up, or not, for my personal benefit. Read, re-read, think, absorb . . . I have not ONCE said that the pool ought to reopen for my benefit, my family's, my neigbors or anyone I know. You are over reacting to the incident, badly over reacting-- insanely is the word YOU used-- as I have stated from the start. Granted, I may be UNDERreacting ... cool in a crisis. TRY it!

Wow wow wow.... I'm really glad I don't know Andy ..what a real jerk! I'm betting he doesn't have kids.. Hopefully he doesn't have pets either!! How unfeeling can one human being be?:(

Don't feed the troll people. Don't feed the troll.

When you are finally put in charge Andy, the rest of us will clearly be better off for it.

There we ladies go again, mindlessly overreacting to the drowning of a child at a pool we take our own children to on a regular basis. Here is some clear-headed thinking for you: if my fellow 'soccer moms' want something to 'read, re-read, think, and absorb' besides Andy's misogynistic commentary, visit http://www.aquaticsafetygroup.com/NoteAndFloat.html. There are some very simple and inexpensive policy changes (some of which have already been implemented at Hoyt Park and other area pools) that could have a profound impact on preventing incidents like this from happening in the future.

<< Better close down this area park until further notice ... see story below.>>

From your comments, I have learned that: a) I am a troll. b) I am a jerk. c) I am unfeeling. d) I am insanely jealous. e) I am asinine. ... Yeah, right. Most entertaining to read all this incisive logic. William, you may well be correct.

(In JSOnline) ... "A 69-year-old man from West Bend apparently drowned Tuesday while swimming at Sandy Knoll County Park in the Town of Trenton, the Washington County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday. The Washington County Dive Team was also sent to the scene to search for the man. The area was also searched by boats, deputies said. The man's body was found at 8:32 p.m. by a member of the Newburg Fire Department. The man was later pronounced dead at the scene by the Washington County Medical Examiner."

So editor Lisa, is Brookfield's Wirth Pool still closed, now 24-hours after a person had an unfortunate mishap there?

Oops .. add mysogynist to the list. Missed that one. By the way, the three women I've talked to about this today each agree with my position and think it's ridiculous that the pool is closed in 100+ degree weather. We must all-- including the three females-- be selfish, unfeeling, women-hating jerks because we hold an opinion different than yours and challenge your assumptions. I welcome dialogue and am not threatened by name calling or raw emotionalism.

The fourth of July is an opportunity to celebrate our common unity as Americans, from a national level right down to the small towns and local neighborhoods that give our country its character. Among us, within our very own community, is a family struggling with the near-drowning of their little girl who remains in critical condition. Closing the park for one day may present modest inconvenience to some, and may be seen as over-wrought sentiment to others (as unfortunately expressed above), but it is a small gesture to this family that their community shares some small burden of grief in what has recently happened. It is these small gestures on a municipal level that is the mortar binding our great nation together. If there is no civic conscience, there can be no national conscience (or pride, Andy), and without that this holiday is meaningless.

i hope the girl is ok. i wonder if we are going swimming in camp any more on tuesdays. i wish her and her family a good 4th of july. please let her move on and go back to camp.

The pool is open.
Daycares and other park and rec departments should have to have one adult to 4 children at most while swimming. Normal adult/child ratios should be greatly increased on field trips. The buddy system should be used at all times. If a child is not with their buddy than both children are removed from the pool for the rest of the visit. Group adult leaders need to do out of pool head counts every 20 minutes. No child under 12 should be allowed at the pool without an adult. Lifeguards are not babysitters.

Excellent comment, Gil, and nice expression of it. Outstanding observations and expectations for both personal and group accountability and responsiblity, Kirsten. Thanks for the spirited debate and discussion, all. Time to cool off, and time to continue prayers for the girl and her family.

Any updates? Did they mention if she was revived?

Excuse me Andy, you obviously don't know what kind of affect this has on a 18-20 year old's mind. You're trying to compare the lifeguards, who deal with something like this on an extremely rare ocasion, to 30+ year old EMT paramedics, who deal with something like this on a daily basis. Yes paramdeics get back into the swing of this so easy and they "buck up" because they do it so often. Telling a 20 year old lifeguard who has never dealt or done something like this before to "buck up" is down right rude and you deserve whatever comes your way. There are so many things wrong with that. I want to you do CPR on a girl who's right infront of you dieing and then tell me it was nothing and I'm okay and I want to work. Get real, because reality obviously hasn't slapped you in the face about how big of an impact this has on the lifeguards. As for the pool being closed the day after, tell me why it shouldn't be? So what if it was a record high temperature today? Getting in a pool isn't the only way to cool off, how about ohhhh I don't know, not going outside if you're hot? Maybe that would work I'm not sure. I personally saw several of the lifeguards that were working yesterday and involved in the incident working again today so there is so many logical reasons on why the pool would be closed. Some of thoes guards may have not been mentally and emotionally ready to get back up in the chair. You are an extremly rude jerk. Thanks in advance for understanding.

Closing the pool was the right thing to do. This was an extremely serious incident. Of course there are inherent dangers in swimming. But the incident needs to be investigated similar to a major accident on the highway. As for the emotional aspect of it, I would have a hard time enjoying myself as a pool patron after witnessing something like this. And I don't think it's unreasonable for the lifeguards to need some time to calm down. An upset lifeguard isn't going to be the most effective lifeguard and that would pose further risk. I have to admit Iwhen I read Andy's comment, I at first thought it was a joke. How could anyone read that article and find the most important fact to be the pool closing? I am praying for this girl and her family. I am glad the lifeguard was attentive enough to notice her. I just hope it was noticed in time to prevent permanent damage. This incident serves as a grim reminder for all to be safety conscious when swimming. Although, for all we know, the day care, pool and lifeguards could have been doing everything right and this still happened.

The bottom line? The pool opened the next day, as I urged should logically happen. Is that lost on all of you? How do you square that FACT with the raw emotion that fills this thread? As for "Lol's" or "Lola's" hair-on-fire wall bouncing, there are tens of thousands of 18, 19, 20 and 21 year old soldiers who-- every day-- face responsibilities far beyond what has apparently ever been asked of you, or what you think is reasonable to expect of young people around us. Good thing! Your notion of how emotionally helpless young adults are, would dictate that we move the age of adulthood (signing a contract, having to register for the draft, being able to get married, facing adult penalties for criminal activity)-- and certainly lifeguarding jobs by your comments-- to somewhere north of age 22, which is of course, nonsense. There is nothing 'rude' about my high confidence in and expectations of normally functioning human beings, but it IS both sad and pathetic how you view the world. The pool opened THE NEXT DAY with staff and lifeguards in place. Why would ANYone be indignant about that, view it as something being terribly wrong, or attribute it to some sort of lack of concern for the girl and her family? NONE is correct. All this righteous group-think emotion and hand-wringing over facts that unfolded just as I said they should. Remember that men/fathers-- not just women/mothers-- raise children. Do you believe their perspectives, opinions and methods inferior to yours? Really?!

my thoughts and prayers are with all involved

Comparing a lifeguard to a soldier is beyond ridiculous. As a 21 year old full time lifeguard, I can tell you that the training is just a bit different than that of any member of our armed forces. We go into our day trained to handle the worst, but the probability of that happening is extremely rare. While we train every single day, nothing can prepare you for actually having to do CPR on a child pulled fresh from the pool, with her eyes still open and staring back at you, knowing that it's incredibly unlikely that you're going to be able to bring her back. That kind of thing sticks with a person. I'd rather have the pool closed until the guards can safely guard the pool again. Do you want a group of traumatized, distracted lifeguards watching your children? If it were closed, it would have been for safety. I applaud every single lifeguard that was there, they did exactly what they were trained to do, and my thoughts and prayers are not only with the girl and her family, but with the staff of the park as well.

Andy, What you seem to fail to realize is the discussion centering around YOU had to do with YOU being an insensitive jerk, not whether the pool should open or not. YOUR arrogant need to put what should happen in YOUR opinion, over how the family, friends and community felt is offensive to many of us, no matter what decision is made. And I was kidding when I said we'd al be better off when YOU are in charge. Frankly, there are too many people in charge already who think far too little about their fellow citizens.

Sooo now you're comparing lifeguards to United States Soilders. You truly are a moron and can not grasp what everyone else, execpt you, is saying.

I am a moron; I am an insensitive jerk-- yes, that's all been established previously by the uber-thoughtful, ultra-sensitive ones . . . anything else to add, other than more emotion? The pool opened the day after the incident as I urged that it should. Some of you are having trouble dealing with that reality. Cooler heads prevailed than yours. So sorry.

You had no impact whatsoever on whether the pool opened or not, nor would you ever have had any impact. There could have been 40 people just like you complaning about the pool possibly being closed and it wouldn't have mattered a bit. NOT. A. BIT! It's the lifeguards decscion. Whether they are, again because you obviously can't read, mentally and emotionally ready to get back up in the chair and guard again. Put your child, if you have one, in the water of a guard who preformed CPR for the first time ever on a child and tell me you feel safe. Now go ahead and compare the lifeguards to another crazy profession like a deep sea oil rig welder because every other comparison you have made is just down right stupid and there is really no connections between the two at all. You're head is not cooler than anyone's, your head can't see past your own ego. You clearly did not win this argument at all because everyone else is siding with the lifeguards, girls familiy and the rest of the community. I'll say it again, preform CPR and Rescure Breathing on an 8 year old girl who is dieing infront of you, and then get back up in the chair and guard the very next day and act like it was nothing at all and I will complain and moan and we can switch positions regarding a topic like this. Until you do that, do not talk about something so serious on which you probably can not say you have experienced first hand, therefore you REALLY have no position in this argument.

I am done wasting my time trying to explain reality to you because what you claim to be "reality" and "the way the real world is run" is some fantasy world you wish you lived in and you wish the way the world was run, but guess what! It will never ever be run like that :) Have a great time wasting your time on here responding to people who have their heads screwed on correctly and tell them that they are wrong and give them terrible analogys and terrible facts and whatever other nonsense spewed from your mouth.

My heart goes out to this family, they are in my thoughts constantly. CPR at the scene and critical condition over 24 hours later can only mean tragedy. While i commend the lifeguards, EMTs, and the physician on scene, the Pool needs to seriously re-evaluate safety procedures.

1) Allow Life-jackets. Floating on the surface is more survivable than sinking below. The pool bans life-jackets. Most other pools and water parks allow (even provide) life-jackets. They wrongly believe life-jackets give a false sense of security. The same foolish arguments were used to block the use of seat-belts. Thankfully Cooler heads prevailed and most of us can now walk away from car accidents.
2) Better demarcation of pool depths greater than 3 feet, if this means a new rope or paint on the pool bottom, or both. It makes it more clear for kids, parents, and guards of increased risk.
3) Swim test young kids. Non-swimmers need to be identified and banded and restricted from used of high risk areas of the pool.

It is easy to blame this on a "tragic accident" tell everyone to "buck up" and then jump back in the pool. But, Einstein would define this as insanity. If Andy, wanted the pool open for adults and teens, I would support him. But families with young kids should not go back until safety can be assured. I am planning on demanding refund for our pool passes this year until policies are changed.

I agree about changing some policy and procedures to make it more clear as to water depth, etc. greenfield pool swim tests and I think tht is a good policy. Fox Brook also swim tests and my son passed but he still got into trouble at the island after diving and waiting to climb back up. I thank God I had a competent babysitter who saw him and swam out to help because not one lifeguard lifted a finger to help him. For that matter my son went under during a swimming lesson when he was 4. The instructor was 2 feet away and didn't see it. I had to jump in. Things happen so quick and the more safety measures in place, the better.

Wirth Pool DOES NOT, I repeat, DOES NOT ban life-jackets in the slightest, (I know because I personally have been told by the lifeguards, and that is a rule that they strictly enforce) I'm not sure where you heard that from thomdg. They simply ask that if a child is going to be wearing a life-jacket, that their parent/guardian be in the water with them and stay near them at all times, which is taking an extra saftey precaution. As for swim tests, I agree but in all reality, I believe that it would be too much work with the ammount of people that visit that pool on a daily basis. I also think that painting a line or another form of something like that would help, but again it would be too tedious because the entire pool is almost more than 3 feet deep and putting in a rope or a lane across the entire length of the pool would cause more problems than prevent. My family has been going there for years and never had a problem. From my experiences and what I've seen, lifeguards are all extremley attentive and professional and from what I'm hearing, extremley qualified. I have no doubts about my family swimming there and we plan to continue swimming there.

Lord's sake, Lollie. Get a grip. Get a very, very firm grip. You seem to be one person who should never be sitting in the lifeguard's chair, or anywhere else that a clear head is needed. Do YOU have children that you're raising with that kind of excitability and anger? Disabuse yourself of the silly notion you've read into my words that somehow I think I had any impact on the pool re-opening-- I didn't. The POINT (because it clearly sailed right through your ears) was that the pool made the correct and logical decision, in my opinion, to reopen the next day, and lent credence to my point-of-view. Some food for thought in your frienzied world, Lollie: I learned to swim via Red Cross swimming lessons in what seemed to be an ice-cold Golden Lake, in June, in western Waukesha County in the 1960s. One day while driving back into town, my brothers, mother and I were following a hay wagon hitched to a farm tractor, with the teen-age farm worker riding on the tractor fender to the left of the farmer. The kid fell off onto the pavement and was immediately run over by the front wheels of the hay wagon. My cool-headed mother pulled the car over and shut it off, ordered me to hand her my towel, and went to help the kid and the very worried farmer. No drama, no BS, just calm, cool, collected maturity for everyone to see, watch and learn from. We went home, and since we did our own laundry starting in 6th grade, I washed the bloody towel and used it at lessons the next day. DO. Buck. Up.

Yes, please just stop, William. The world is full of mollycoddled weinies like you who are excellent at flower arranging, fingerpainting and making petit fours. Yes, the boy we saw run over survived << could you ever have faced him !?!?!? >> and you've missed the point of that true story entirely, showing your emotional inability to deal with situations realistically and then move on, by questioning whether it ever even happened. Is THAT revealing, or what. I can see why you're so clearly threatened by people with much higher levels of emotional control and development than you apparently have ever possessed, seeing them as insensitive jerks because we didn't need, nor offer you, a group hug or rush to get grief counselors to you within a half-hour of your latest need. How pathetic ... but this age of weak parenting, overstuffed rule books and suing over stubbed toes instead of picking up your feet is perfect for you.

the opening line of this story credits the police for the tragic information. that alone, is enough to scare away the entire community. this is poor public relations for both the police (what police and who) to make public before the facts are known. Patch (owned by AOL, got the scoop from a 12 year old child..........what a novel interview. so the key witness, Rachel, gave the substance of the breaking news story. pick on a child rather then a lifeguard or an adult nearby.

sorry LOL... 3 parents I know were told there children could not wear life jackets by pool staff (perhaps pool staff was misinformed). I was told i could not use Floaties when i was with my daughter in the pool.

I would favor a policy that encourages the use of life-jackets in non-swimmers like the Note and Float program mentioned above ( http://www.aquaticsafetygroup.com/NoteAndFloat.html. )

It would not be impossible to test kids. It can be done once a season and be based on height (ie. testing kids less than <48 inches tall). Frequent pool users could be looked up on a database or noted on their pool pass. Other pools do it without major service interruption.

To T.Van -- So sad, so full of hatred, so courageous to post without your name, so American to encourage diversity of opinion and free speech on a public topic, and so convincing to get a lecture on God and religion to boot. If you need to be angry at someone for some reason, be angry with the level-headed authorities who opened the pool the next day-- they took the action you disdain. Most sensible people realize they took the correct action, and their investigation is successfully continuing without having to drain the pool or take other illogical actions. Would you have it closed still today .. Saturday morning? When I'm in church, and even before and after that, I'll pray for you T.Van. God knows who you are, and perhaps He can both enlighten you further AND calm you. I suggest we concentrate on the family.

She passed; now let's all group and pray for the family..

I feel sorry for you Mr. Smith, and for the mama who raised you. Maybe someday you'll need to buck up while the real world keeps going with no care and concern for you. Keep your insensitive comments to yourself. There is no need for them at this time of tragedy.

Hmmm. L. Riley ... How low are your reading comprehension scores, since I've consistenty said from the start that we all ought to be keeping the family, friends and loved ones of this deceased girl in our thoughts and prayers. You've missed that apparently, despite how many times and in how many ways it has been said by me and others, No need to feel sorry for me or cast aspersions on my relatives; however, in America you're free to do so if you wish, just as I am free to offer a different view of a situation than you hold. I can handle it and my family can handle it. Every neighbor you'll ever meet-- all of us-- has been in the position of needing to keep going when it may seem that no one particularly cares or has any concern about us at the moent. It's called l i f e. Yes, it's a time of tragedy for that family. Tragedies happen every single day all over our community, nation and the world. We just buried a 45 yr old widow's (a friend's) husband, and a 54 yr old widow's (a relative's) husband. I think those women and families are dealing with their own particular and others' tragedies better than you are. They're being strong; that's a good thing. Sometimes, when hurting people see others moving forward, it helps them do so. That concept seems foreign to you, sadly-- but that doesn't make you better than me or me better than you. You go ahead and be concerned about people like me; I'll continue to be concerned about people like you. It's all okay.

she died. she was my best friends sister. she had add. the family never got over it.they still have her stuff in her room never touched. Andy i can't believe you had the nerve to say that. you are what's wrong with the world.