Toddler airlifted after near-drowning at New Windsor home pool

An 18-month-old child was airlifted to Westchester Medical Center after a near-drowning at a home on Red Maple Way in New Windsor Tuesday morning. Town of New Windsor police and New Windsor EMS were called around 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, July 1, 2026, to a drowning call. The toddler had fallen into a swimming pool, had already been pulled from the water and was breathing when first responders arrived. CPR was performed before the flight, and the child was expected to be okay. The investigation remained ongoing.

The New Windsor rescue came two weeks after a 5-year-old was airlifted after a near-drowning in Wawayanda, another Orange County pool emergency that ended at Westchester Medical Center.

Children ages 1 to 4 die from drowning more than any other cause of death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the United States has more than 4,000 unintentional drowning deaths each year. New York State says pools should be inaccessible to children unless an adult is directly supervising them, and state guidance calls for proper fencing, pool alarms and anti-entrapment drain covers.

New Windsor also posts pool requirements through its building department for in-ground and above-ground pools. The town’s published rules say pools must be at least 10 feet from the property line and the house, and that electrical work must be done by a licensed electrician and inspected by a town-recognized inspector. The building department enforces state and local code on construction and related work.