A childcare center in Hsinchu County is under investigation after an 18-month-old girl in its care drowned in an outdoor pond on Wednesday last week.
The Hsinchu County Government has barred the center from enrolling more children and is to issue a fine of up to NT$600,000, pending the results of an investigation.
The Hsinchu County Fire Department said it received a report at 11am on Wednesday last week that a child had drowned, was unconscious and not breathing after suffering cardiac arrest at a childcare center in the north of the county.
Photo courtesy of a member of the public
While in an ambulance en route to a hospital, her breathing and heart rate returned, but she was later pronounced dead by the hospital’s emergency room, the department said in a statement.
The Hsinchu County Government in a statement said that it immediately dispatched personnel to the hospital to accompany the girl’s parents and to the childcare center to obtain surveillance footage, and question witnesses and staff.
The investigation found that the girl had gone to a 20cm-deep outdoor ecological pond at the center and fell in.
The caregiver on duty was unaware of the incident, and only when another caregiver noticed the girl missing did they find her in the pond, the county government said.
The Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office said it has preliminarily ruled out foul play and the incident has been classified as an accidental death.
The local government said it instructed the center to hold a meeting with parents and guardians to explain the incident, while it works with the Hsinchu County Infant Care Association to assess the availability of nearby centers to help parents who wish to transfer their children to an alternate facility.
The Student Counseling Center has also been tasked with conducting group counseling and providing assistance at the facility, it said.
The local government said that it had assembled a task force to investigate any potential negligence or mismanagement in accordance with the Child and Juvenile Welfare and Rights Protection Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法) and other childcare service regulations.
If a staff member is found to have contravened the law, a fine of NT$60,000 to NT$600,000 would be issued, and the person’s name would be publicized, it said.
If the childcare center is found to have contravened the law, it would also face a fine of NT$60,000 to NT$600,000, it added.
The center would be required to make corrections within a set deadline and failure to comply could result in repeated fines, the center’s name being publicized and the suspension of its operations for a month to a year, it said.
The Hsinchu County Government said it also issued an order for all childcare centers within its jurisdiction to conduct a thorough review of safety measures and strengthen child safety protection measures.
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