How to Keep Swimming Safe

Merrily, merrily, life is GOOD!

When Brooke Schweigert of Anthem Swim answered the phone, the woman on the other end breathlessly described what had happened: “Oh my God, it works!” she told Schweigert. The baby floated to the surface, rolled over on his back and called out. Mom, only briefly distracted by a conversation and just a few feet away, heard nothing when her toddler plunged into the backyard pool.

“Most people who have been through this say the same thing,” Schweigert said. “There is no sound when the baby falls in.” And, maybe that’s one of the reasons we all think it wouldn’t happen to us. Because we would listen attentively for the splash… We’d stay within earshot. We wouldn’t be distracted…

Schweigert, who has been teaching infants to 6 years to swim for five years, was thankful the lessons paid off, but her reflexive response was, “Don’t leave your baby by the pool!”

“Swimming lessons are just preventative,” Schweigert told In&Out. “You still have to watch your children every minute.”

And this, in a nutshell, tells the whole story. Empower your kids. Take all precautions. Make sure your summer fun doesn’t end with a grief counselor.

Fast Facts:

Children ages 1 to 4 have the highest drowning rates and most of those occur in home swimming pools.
Drowning is responsible for more deaths among children 1-4 than any other cause except birth defects.
Nearly 9 out of 10 children between ages 1 and 14 who drowned were under supervision when they died.

SOURCE Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Factors affecting Drowning

The main factors affecting the risk of drowning, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, are:

Inability to Swim. Research has shown swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning among children aged 1 to 4 years.
Lack of Barriers. Pool fencing can prevent young children from gaining unsupervised access to the pool.
Lack of Close Supervision. It happens quickly and quietly anywhere there is water (bathtubs and buckets pose a risk).
Location. Most children 1–4 drown in home swimming pools. Open water deaths increase with age.
Failure to Wear Life Jackets. In 2010, most boating deaths were caused by drowning, with 88 percent of victims not wearing life jackets.
Alcohol Use. Among adolescents and adults, alcohol is involved in up to 70 percent of deaths associated with water recreation. Alcohol’s effects are heightened by sun exposure and heat.
Seizure Disorders. Drowning is the most common cause of unintentional injury death among those with seizure disorders, with the bathtub as the site of highest risk.

10 Things You Can Do To Prevent Drowning

Supervise. Designate a responsible adult to watch young children in the bath and all children in the pool. [Create a “Designated Water Watcher” card.] If you are supervising preschool kids, be close enough to reach the child at all times. Do not engage in any other distracting activity (such as reading, playing games, talking on the phone, or gardening) while supervising children. Don’t assume a community pool is safer, said DMFD Captain Dave Wilson. A half dozen lifeguards with 200 children makes the job difficult.
Use the Buddy System. Always swim with a buddy. Select sites with lifeguards when possible.
Take Seizure Disorder Precautions. If the swimmer has a seizure disorder, provide one-on-one supervision.
Learn to Swim. Formal swimming lessons can protect young children from drowning. However, even when children have had formal swimming lessons, constant, careful supervision when children are in the water, and barriers are still important.
Learn CPR. In the time it takes for paramedics to arrive, your CPR skills could save a life.
Toys Aren’t Safety Devices. Don’t use water wings, noodles, or inner-tubes as a safety device.
Avoid Alcohol. Do not drink while swimming, boating, water skiing or supervising children.
Don’t Hyperventilate. Rapid breathing in an effort to swim underwater for long periods can cause “shallow water blackout,” and subsequent drowning.
Install Four-Sided Fencing. Install a fence at least 4 feet high with a self-closing and self-latching gate that opens outward, with latches out of reach of children. Consider additional barriers such as automatic door locks and alarms. Do not put furniture near that might provide a child a boost to the latch or over the fence.
Clear the Decks. Remove floats, balls and toys from the pool and pool area immediately after use so children are not tempted to enter the pool area unsupervised.