Every year many young children in the United States drown in swimming pools. More and more children become victims of near-drownings. Most of these accidents occur in the family’s backyard swimming pool. Seventy-five percent of children were last seen by their parents within five minutes of drowning. Drowning is called the “Silent Killer”. There is no splash nor cry for help.
- The CDC Injury Surveillance and Prevention Program reports that in the United States, drowning is the second leading cause of injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) 2003 Report on Drowning and Injury Prevention reveals that worldwide, drowning is the third leading cause of death, with boys 1-5 at twice the risk as girls.
- According to a report by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (CDC 2005), for each child who dies from drowning, four others are admitted to the hospital, and 16 receive urgent medical care for near-drowning incidents.
This is awful, terrifying statistics. But it’s we, young parents and all adults, who are responsible for the children’s lives. And it’s totally in our power to change the situation once and forever.
Drowning is the only childhood death that can totally be prevented. All we need is to follow several crucial safety rules and explain to our kids the main moments of interaction with swimming pools. So, today, we’d like to talk about these simple and important moments.
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Swimming Pool Safety Rules for Parents
Surprisingly and sadly, we still have to repeat this first priority rule to many people. As we can see from statistics, even if you have a teenager of 13 or 14 years old, cases of drowning are still unacceptably frequent.
Kids’ games in swimming pools may be very harmful, never mentioning such things as cramps, heart attacks (yes, even at such a young age), loss of consciousness, etc.
That’s why, if you have children under seven years old, it’s recommended to swim together with them, and hold and support them. When it comes to older kids, such supervision may provoke protests. So, it’s better to let them enjoy swimming alone, but you should choose a place where you can see them all the time.
Please remember that whatever happens, your attention and supervision (even inconspicuous for kids) may become that very simple thing that will prevent a tragedy.
Choose a Proper Swimming Pool
Adult pools often cannot ensure a decent safety level for children. It’s better to choose a pool for kids only that would meet the depth and other safety requirements. For example, Intex prism pools have many sizes and depths to choose from per family.
Choose a pool where the water level cannot reach your kids’ heads. We’d also recommend inflatable models as their soft walls will prevent injuries. Also, an anti-slip cover is required.
Use Special Inflatable Toys
A couple of floaties, jackets, and rubber rings will keep your kid above the waterline during the whole swimming session. These toys are especially useful for babies and toddlers as, at this period, they only learn to orientate in space and move properly.
Swimming Lessons
Small children should be afforded swimming lessons. Swimming lessons are a nice way to teach your children both swimming skills and rules of behavior in the pool. This method will suit kids of almost any age as there are courses even for babies.
During lessons, coaches explain how to feel your body in water and use it to stay afloat. But most importantly, they tell kids how to behave on water. Senior groups may even learn the basics of first aid.
Explain Main Safety Rules
Often, it’s enough to talk with your kids. Always explain and remind them of the main safety rules before each swimming event.
Please do clearly explain what they can and must not do in the pool and how they can and must not play with each other in the pool. No running, sinking, and jumping in the pool are allowed. Kids should understand that they may be hurt. Surely, it doesn’t mean we should intimidate our children, but the knowledge of basic pool behavior rules is crucial.
However, even if children understand this and promise to be careful, there is no guarantee of safety as many things don’t depend on them. That’s why, as we said, adults should carefully monitor everything that happens in the pool or prevent kids from getting in the pool when inacceptable. Let’s discuss a couple of such options.
Install a Pool Fence
Installing a pool fence around a swimming pool where a young child spends time can prevent drownings. Pool fences create a barrier between a young child and the swimming pool. Swimming pool safety fences are non-climbable, and when the pool fence is installed correctly, it prevents a small child from getting over it, under it, through it, or opening it. Installing a self-closing, self-latching, key-lockable walk-through gate adds a layer of safety, as well as convenience.
Swimming pool fences effectively prevent drowning accidents that many States in the United States have now mandated legislation requiring pool fences be installed around any new swimming pool being constructed. In States such as Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, and California, where swimming pools are prevalent, swimming pool fences have drastically cut down the number of drownings and near-drownings.
Use a Pool Cover
Layers of protection around a swimming pool are important. So, if you got a small inflatable or above-ground pool installed specially for kids, we’d recommend getting a cover. This is another method of swimming prevention. Covers cost less but can be almost as efficient as fences.
Pool covers over a pool ensure that there is a barrier between the child and the pool and therefore prevent accidents. If a small child opens a door and walks out to the backyard swimming pool, he or she is protected from accidentally falling into the pool.
Safety experts agree that prevention is the best method to prevent drownings. But please mind that fences and covers are efficient only when we speak about small children who cannot overcome this barrier themselves. It won’t suit teenagers.
Conclusion
As you see, there is nothing extraordinary in these pool safety rules. Your constant attention and some quite affordable equipment such as floaties, special kid pools, and fences with covers are the main clues. However, they can ensure you and your children will only enjoy the pool.
Please do follow these rules all the time – never allow fun swimming to turn into a tragedy.
