Keep Kids Safe Around Water This Summer

This weekends' events in my hometown of Tampa have prompted me to write this post. Safety during the summer months, particularly keeping kids safe around swimming pools. Drowning ranks fifth among the leading causes of unintentional injury death in the United States. This Mother's Day weekend 3 children have drowned and another child is in critical care. It brings a lump to my throat just thinking about how these families are coping with such traumatic events occurring in their lives.

We want to bring to your attention some basic safety tips that have been released by the American Red Cross that we felt would be useful to share.

Make Water Safety Your Priority

Swim in designated areas supervised by lifeguards.
Always swim with a buddy; do not allow anyone to swim alone. Even at a public pool or a lifeguarded beach, use the buddy system!
Ensure that everyone in the family learns to swim well. Enroll in age-appropriate Red Cross water orientation and Learn-to-Swim courses.
Never leave a young child unattended near water and do not trust a child’s life to another child; teach children to always ask permission to go near water.
Have young children or inexperienced swimmers wear U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets around water, but do not rely on life jackets alone.
Establish rules for your family and enforce them without fail. For example, set limits based on each person’s ability, do not let anyone play around drains and suction fittings, and do not allow swimmers to hyperventilate before swimming under water or have breath-holding contests.
Even if you do not plan on swimming, be cautious around natural bodies of water including ocean shoreline, rivers and lakes. Cold temperatures, currents and underwater hazards can make a fall into these bodies of water dangerous.
If you go boating, wear a life jacket! Most boating fatalities occur from drowning.
Avoid alcohol use. Alcohol impairs judgment, balance and coordination; affects swimming and diving skills; and reduces the body’s ability to stay warm.

Prevent Unsupervised Access to the Water

Install and use barriers around your home pool or hot tub. Safety covers and pool alarms should be added as additional layers of protection.
Ensure that pool barriers enclose the entire pool area, are at least 4-feet high with gates that are self-closing, self-latching and open outward, and away from the pool. The latch should be high enough to be out of a small child’s reach.

To read more click http://www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster/water-safety