Water Safety

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year approximately 4,000 people drown in the United States, including almost 1,000 children younger than 15 years of age.

Childhood drowning and near drowning often occurs when a child is left alone, even for a few seconds. Pool submersions involving children happen quickly. A child can drown in the time it takes to answer a phone. 75%of the victims had been missing from sight for 5 minutes or less.

• Most safety organizations agree: The primary element in preventing pool and beach incidents of any kind is constant supervision.
• Never leave a child alone in or near water even for a moment. Constant adult supervision is essential. Wading pools are not even safe.
• Use approved flotation devises for nonswimmers. Don’t rely on any float toys such as inner tubes and plastic rafts to protect your child.
• Teach your child safe water behavior; no horseplay, no diving in shallow water, no swimming alone. Never swim during electrical storms or directly after eating.
• If you have a pool, enclose it with a four-sided wall or fence at least 4-1/2 feet high. Install self-closing and self-locking gates. Never leave children unsupervised around a pool.
• Do not use a pool, spa, or hot tub if any grates on the outlets are missing or broken.
• Do not allow glass in the pool area. Keep all electrical appliances well away from the water.
• Never allow diving into aboveground pools; they’re too shallow. Allow diving only from the diving board of in-ground pools. Teach your child to descend a pool slide feet first.

Keep life-saving equipment at poolside, such as a life preserver, solid pole, rope, or hook, and practice using them. Make sure a child’s caretaker knows how to swim, how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and how to respond in case of accidental submersion.