Summer still sizzles. It’ll be another month before swim season is truly over. Parents, even with the craziness of school starting and a multitude of everything, remember to stay focused on the kids around water.
Keep in mind these important water safety tips:
- Maintain constant visual contact with children in or near the water. This includes swimming pools and bathtubs.
- Designate an adult to supervise the water area. The supervising adult should not partake in any distracting activities while watching children.
- Prevent children from having direct access to a swimming pool.
- Store buckets upside down.
- Keep toilet lids shut and use toilet locks if you have an infant or toddler in the house.
- Adults and kids over age 13 should learn CPR.
- Do not use aio-filled toys in place of life jackets or life preservers with children. These give a false sense of security and increase the risk of drowning.
Simple enough? It seems that way, but life can be distracting and it takes only a second for a child to drown.
Also, know drowning doesn’t look like drowning. At least not how it’s portrayed in the movies with waving arms and splashes. It’s a very quiet event and you may not realize what’s happening even if you’re looking directly at your child. Read this blog post by Mario Vittone to learn more about the real signs of drowning.
Click here to find more tips and resources on the Children’s Hospital Central California website.
I just pulled my youngest out the other day. He had asked to swim across the deep end, even though he’s not the strongest swimmer. In one breath, he swam half-way to the center of the pool, then turned around and tried without success to get back to the wall. Needless to say I grabbed him at that point.
When I was a lifeguard at Wild Water (Clovis Lakes at the time), we had a rule called the 10-20 second rule. We had 10 seconds to identify whether someone was in distress, and 20 seconds to get to them and pluck them out.
Reminder: a few swim lessons or a swim certificate don’t negate the need for safety.
My husband is a former Navy rescue swimmer (SAR) and both of my kids were swimmers and play/played waterpolo. We always take precautions around water and they don’t take that experience for granted. Even experienced swimmers get into trouble and drown.
Experienced swimmers that are children are still “children” and should still be attended. It’s good to be proud of our children’s abilities but, never to the point that we allow them to be in dangerous situations.