The Designated Buddy Campaign is a collaborative of the Child Death Review Team of Mariposa County, that is composed of the Department of Human Services, The Sheriff’s Office, The District Attorney’s Office, The Public Health Department, the Mariposa Behavioral Health and Recovery Center and the Merced-Mariposa Chapter of the American Red Cross.

It is intended as a public awareness program to educate the public regarding how quickly small children can get out of sight, can get lost, or hurt, how quickly they can drown and how little water if takes for a child to drown. It is intended to inform the public of the prevalence of these tragic accidents that can be prevented with proper supervision.

Drowning is the leading cause of death of children under 5 for the State of California. It ranks second for the nation. These tragedies usually happen at momentary lapses of supervision. This program is aimed at increasing public awareness of the need to be diligent in the supervision of young children and to assign a Designated Buddy to watch children when parents and caretakers must have their attention diverted elsewhere