Swimming pool weather is upon us, and already Children's Hospital Central California is warning of tragic drownings. Read The Bee's story in today's paper by clicking here.
We have a backyard swimming pool, and thankfully got through childhood with no big water emergencies. However, I did have to go in after him once when he was a toddler and walked right into my parents' pool. I was fully dressed and, fortunately, was standing right next to him when it happened. My mom remembers being so scared watching it all come down, because she cannot swim.
We gave Scott swimming lessons at Jan Thomas' swim school in Clovis when he was really young because I thought it was safer for a child to know how to hold his breath and pull his head out of water. It was amazing that the children in those classes could quickly learn at a very young age to hold their breath under water, pull their heads out of the pool when dropped in and paddle to the side of the pool. It made me feel a little safer that he could at least get his head out of the water if necessary.
A friend told me that they hadn't fenced the pool yet because her baby couldn't even walk. That little guy actually crawled out of the doggie door, following their poodle, one day and went into the back yard. Fortunately, my friend heard the doggie-door noise twice and her maternal intuition told her something was up. That fence went up around the pool the very next day.
Swimming lessons are included in the tips offered by Children's Hospital Central California in a press release full of safety advice sent out Tuesday, responding to the spike in Valley drownings this year. Read The Bee's story about the drownings in today's paper by clicking here.
ABCs of Water Safety:
A for Adult Supervision – continuous, active supervision by a responsible and designated adult.
B for Barriers – barriers to aid in drown proofing your child’s home and play environment. Drowning does not occur as often from a lack of adult supervision, as much as a lapse in adult supervision. Even the best parent cannot watch a child every minute of every day. When a toddler escapes adult supervision, barriers or layers of protection will buy the adult time to find the child before a tragedy can occur.
C if for Classes – for parents, families and children. Examples of different types of classes can include:
Swimming classes – the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends all children 4 years and older should have formal swimming instruction. (Classes earlier then 4 years have been found to give parents a false sense of security concerning the child’s ability to be safe in water.)
CPR classes – it is well documented that the best chance a child will have for survival if an incident occurs is with bystander CPR initiated at the scene of the accident.
Child Safety classes – classes taught by experts that will help the parent or caregiver childproof the child’s environment.
Pool Safety Tips
* Never leave children alone in or near a pool, not even for a minute.
* An adult should be within arm’s length whenever infants or toddlers are in or around water, providing touch supervision. Do not consider children drown proof because they have had swimming lessons.
* Enclose your pool on all four sides with a fence or barrier that is at least 5 feet tall, making sure that there are no foot or handholds that could help a young child to climb it. It is best if the house is not one side of the barrier. However, if it is, then doors leading from the house to the pool should be protected with alarms that produce an audible sound when a door is unexpectedly opened. All gate entrances to the pool should be self-closing, self-latching, and open outward.
* Avoid placing furniture or other items near a pool fence as they could be used by a child to climb over the fence. Examples include tables, chairs and planters.
* Toys are toys. They should not be considered life preservers to keep children afloat. Remove toys from in and around the pool when it is not in use. Toys can attract young children to the pool.
* Be careful with children using “floaties” or “swimmies”. These are not life preservers, but they can give a false sense of security to the child and the parent. Life preservers will have “Approved by the Coast Guard as a Personal Floatation Device (PFD)” printed on the vest. If it doesn’t have these words, it is not a PFD.
* Drain standing water out of kiddy pools, as well as spa and pool covers. A child can drown in as little as an inch of water.
* During a social event, appoint a designated watcher to protect young children from pool accidents. Adults may take turns being the watcher. When adults become preoccupied, children are at risk. Older siblings should not be asked to watch younger children in the water. They are neither trained nor mature enough to be given such an adult responsibility.
* Remember these barriers are not child proof, they just provide layers of protection for a child who strays from supervision. Barriers give parents additional time to locate a child before the unexpected can become a tragedy.
* Learn CPR. If there is an emergency call 911. Teach children how to dial 911 in an emergency.
If a child is missing, check the pool first. Seconds count in preventing death or disability. Go to the edge of the pool and scan the entire pool, bottom and surface, as well as the adjacent pool area.
What to do if you find a child in a pool
* Yell for help. Get the child out of the pool and onto the ground.
* If someone is with you, have them call 9-1-1. Determine if the child is breathing: tilt the head back. If you don’t hear or feel breathing or see the chest rising, start CPR immediately. Continue CPR until emergency help arrives.
* If you are alone and the child is not breathing, start CPR and shout for help. If no one has arrived after 1 minute of CPR, call 9-1-1. Return to the child and continue CPR until help arrives.
I also have a pool and had a fence up before water was even put in it. It was required by the City of Sanger but I would have done it anyway. My daughter had swim lessoons at Jan Thomas when she was 10 months old. She would crawl out the doggie door almost everyday and thankfully couldn't get into the pool area. We taught her to never say help in the pool while just playing around only if she needed help. She as well as my son have never been allowed to be in the pool without us being home and able to watch them. Swim lessons give a child at least a 50 50 chance of getting to the side or out. Please spend the money and take the time to give them lessons and learn CPR as I did before she was born.
Jackie showed the main components of common sense regarding pools...teach the kids to swim ASAP, learn CPR and the need for non compromising attentiveness.Statistics show that a pool is more lethal than a gun in the home to children.Should we ban swimming pools?I don't have one so I say yes.
Kids have to taught to respect the water just as they need to respect a gun. It is all about teaching and supervision for all dangerous things.