Yuma County water-safety campaign returns with free CPR classes, workshops

Two river rescues in a weekend, plus a 10-year-old’s quick action days earlier, are turning Yuma County’s water-safety campaign into a live warning, not a seasonal reminder. On Saturday, April 25, Yuma Fire Department crews responded to two separate Colorado River incidents near West Wetlands involving people who could not safely exit the water. Earlier in the week, Yuma police said a 10-year-old girl helped save a woman from drowning on the river.

The Greater Yuma Water Safety Alliance will launch its 2026 campaign in May, marking the third year since the partnership formed in the fall of 2023. The city says the alliance began with the City of Yuma, Yuma County, Onvida Health and the Prison Hill Liquid Foundation, and later expanded to include San Luis, Somerton and Wellton, plus Exceptional Community Hospital - Yuma, Regional Center for Border Health and Sunset Health. Its framework is the National Drowning Prevention Alliance’s Five Layers of Protection: barriers and alarms, supervision, swim lessons, life jackets and emergency preparedness.

This year’s calendar is built around hands-on help, not slogans. Free first-aid and CPR classes are listed at the Yuma Police Department Community Room, 1500 S. 1st Avenue, with sessions set for May 16, June 13, July 12 and August 8 from 10 a.m. to noon. Onvida Health will host monthly water-safety workshops at its administrative building, 2400 S. Avenue A, beginning May 11, with CPR demonstrations, practical instruction and a child-sized, Coast Guard-approved life vest for each participant. Free CPR and first-aid community classes also continue at the Onvida Health Education Center, 2463 S. Avenue A, with completion cards valid for two years.

The alliance says its 2026 priorities include scholarships that expand swim lessons and more water-safety and CPR education across the county. That push matters in a region where officials have repeatedly said children ages 1 to 4 face the highest drowning risk and where most incidents happen in or around the home. A 2025 wrap-up said the alliance reached hundreds of residents, but the rescues on the Colorado River show why the work still has to reach every parent, caregiver and weekend boater before summer heat drives more families to the water.