 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
POOL SAFETY TIPS
The majority of the parents involved were responsible people who thought it
could never happen to their family. They were careful and had close
supervision over their children. Many were in good income brackets,
educated, and could afford nice homes with pools in family oriented
communities. So we are literally talking about people who could live next door
to you.
If drowning were a disease it truly would be referred to as an epidemic with all
the public attention and awareness possible focused on an epidemic of such
proportion.
could never happen to their family. They were careful and had close
supervision over their children. Many were in good income brackets,
educated, and could afford nice homes with pools in family oriented
communities. So we are literally talking about people who could live next door
to you.
If drowning were a disease it truly would be referred to as an epidemic with all
the public attention and awareness possible focused on an epidemic of such
proportion.
A study conducted by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to find out how child
drowning incidents occur indicates that SUPERVISION CAN AND DOES FAIL.
The investigation by the Commission was directed at children under age five in Arizona,
California, and Florida who had drown in home swimming pools. The results might help you to
better understand why drowning is still the number one killer for three states and stands at
number two for the nation:
Who was in charge of supervision at the time of drowning?
69 percent of the accidents occurred while one or both parents were responsible for
supervision.
10 percent were adults other than the parents.
14 percent were sitters.
7 percent siblings
What was the location of the pool drowning?
65 percent were in a pool owned by the child's family.
22 percent at a relatives
11 percent happened at a neighbor's.
Drowning happens quickly and without warning. There is no cry for help.
77 percent of the children had been seen 5 minutes or less before being missed and
subsequently discovered in the pool.
Where were they last seen?
46 percent WERE LAST SEEN IN THE HOUSE prior to being found in the pool. Of these, 15
percent were thought to be sleeping.
23 percent were last seen in the yard, porch or patio, not in the pool area. That's a total of 69
percent that were thought not to be in the pool area.
31 percent were last seen in the pool or pool area.
What activity was the person responsible for supervision involved in at the time of drowning?
39 percent were doing chores.
18 percent socializing.
9 percent were busy on the telephone.
The suddenness of this type of accident and the results it yields is devastating to anyone it
touches. When you think pool, think hard core. Even if this is not your personality, you must
be an absolute dictator. Let your children know without any doubts, that is your way or none
at all.
LAYERS OF PROTECTION
Supervision is always your primary layer of protection, but as the study shows, 69 percent of
the drowning incidents occurred when parental supervision failed and there were not other
"backup layers" in use.
Access doors to the pool area with high locks are a secondary layer of protection.
Alarms on access doors is another layer of protection.
A pool safety barrier (fence) separating the pool from your home and all access doors and
entrances is one more layer of protection.
Water survival training for a child when he is capable of crawling or walking to the pool.
CPR and your knowledge of rescue techniques are a final layer of protection should there be
an accident.
The goal, with instituted layers of protection, is to come as close to a "fail safe" system of
preventing drowning incidents as possible. Meaning that if there is a momentary lapse of
supervision for whatever reason, we have several backup systems in place.
All must fail before a drowning can take place. A door has been left unlocked or open, the
alarm system or device for the door has been turned off, the pool safety barrier has been left
open, your child does enter the water, panics and does not attempt to utilize survival swim
training, CPR is administered too late to save the child.
THERE CAN BE NO COMPROMISE ON POOL SAFETY. YOU ARE DEALING, LITERALLY, WITH A
LIFE AND DEATH SITUATION.
Set down definite pool rules covering its use and more importantly, when it is not in use. We
all have a tendency to give a little leeway on this or that with our children, but not when it
comes to the pool.
Any door leading to the pool area should be kept locked.
Even if your home is equipped with an alarm system that will beep when perimeter doors are
opened, install simple contact alarms on the more often used doors as a further safeguard.
Pool Guard makes an excellent alarm designed strictly for access doors to the pool area. This
type of alarm must have the button pushed whenever the door is opened and has a delay
feature to keep if from sounding off for seven seconds for entering from the inside. It is
particularly useful if you have older children who open doors to the pool area. Sliding glass
doors should be locked at the top in addition to other locks. In two thirds of the drowning
cases studied where children were thought to be in the home, sliding glass doors were either
left open or opened by the toddler.
If you own a pool this is a must! Install a protective safety barrier or pool fence that will
eliminate access to the pool for young children and pets. (See Life Saver System info.)
Floating pool alarm devices with remote alarms sounding in the home can alert you to a child
falling into the pool. The pool surface, however, must be disturbed enough by the fall so as to
set off the alarm. Since these alarms do work off a disturbance to the surface of the pool;
your child could quietly walk down the steps, go under, drown, and never disturb the alarm or
set it off!!! They are quite inexpensive (around $100) and better than nothing at all since they
do detect some accidental falls if adjusted and placed properly. Alarm batteries and function
should be checked often to increase the safety margin and effectiveness of this type of device.
If this is your choice of protection; be sure the model you purchase has a remote alarm that
will sound in the house and a local alarm that will also alert someone near the pool area.
Another type of alarm on the market is designed to detect motion in the pool area with an
infrared beam. These alarms are independent of your burglar alarm systems and are designed
to be easily mounted outside without doing electrical work and have a remote alarm in the
home that can be plugged into any electrical outlet. Optek is one manufacturer of this type of
alarm.
Have your toddler trained for pool survival when he is able to crawl or walk to your pool.
This is introductory training to the water that is not intended to actually teach him to swim,
but more to provide the toddler with the necessary skills to help survive an accidental fall into
the pool. He should be taught to negotiate to a wall or steps and know how to get out. His
final lesson might include his being knocked unexpectedly into the pool fully clothed. Do not
be alarmed, the child's reaction is being monitored to help determine if the lessons have been
effective by using this simulated "panic situation". This type of survival training can usually be
very effective after just a week of daily lessons. From our own experience with both methods
and other parents we have spoken with, this method is considerably less traumatic than other
methods.
Another method of water survival training is to teach the child to roll over and float on his
back. It also is effective and has been taught successfully for many years. Be certain that he is
also taught how to get to the side of the pool and hang on or get out in addition to learning to
roll over and float.
You can determine which method will best suit your needs and the situation.
All types of survival swim instruction must be reintroduced to the toddler after a period of not
being in the pool; as in over the winter months.
Whichever way you go, do not be lulled into thinking that your child can have open access to
the pool area. Remember, this is just one layer of protection.
Every layer of protection possible must be in force at all times or the system is compromised.
If you have read or been told that your child cannot be taught water survival until age three
because he is incapable of learning at an earlier age, might get ear infections, that it "leads to
a false sense of security for the parent", or that such training is ineffective "because 55
percent of toddlers who drown had received survival swim training," please think for yourself!
Your child can be taught survival swimming and will retain it during water active months with
practice.
If you do not have your child in the water over the winter months, particularly a child under
age 3 years, he will require a refresher to "remember" what was learned the summer before.
This will usually take only a few days to accomplish and then you can proceed on to have him
learn additional techniques or start actual swimming lessons.
Yes, a large percentage of children who have drown did have survival swim training, what the
statistics cannot show you is how many have survived a fall into the pool because of this
training (many adults who drown could also swim). As to the "false sense of security", most
parents will not even leave a toddler alone in a bathtub much less knowingly let their child
near the pool unsupervised. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's study revealed that
75 percent of the victims of drowning were among 12 and 35 months of age. For these
children, 3 years old will never come.
Take the time to learn CPR and accident procedures. If not your own child, you may be able to
save someone else's. Many local hospitals have programs for this type of training.
Do not leave a toddler or young children in the pool or pool area without adult supervision.
Older children are not always as sensitive to the dangers of drowning when it applies to
others.
A mother told us that she was scolding an older brother (6 years old), as she snatched her
coughing 18 months old out of the pool where he had walked off the steps while she was
away for a moment. His answer was innocent "But I could see his eyes were open and he
wasn't crying." Hope the point has been made.
Never go into the house to answer the telephone and leave a child unattended in the pool
area. Numerous drowning incidents are associated with the answering of a telephone in the
house while the pool was in use by children.
A telephone installed at the pool area or the presence of a remote unit, on the other hand,
could prove to be an invaluable aid in the event of an accident.
Do not leave objects in the pool that could attract your child. Children who would not
normally go near a pool because of fear may not even think about the water if they are in
pursuit of a favorite toy in the pool.
"Staging platforms", such as tables and chairs, should not be kept near the pool fence.
Allowing the pool area to be used as a play area is as bad as letting young children play in a
busy street or with poisonous chemicals. Isolating the pool area to be used for swimming only
is the most essential concept of drowning prevention.
If you miss your child always check the pool first, even if access is thought to be restricted,
then look elsewhere.
In a drowning accident seconds can make the difference between death, recovery, or just
survival.
KEEP THEM SAFE AND PLAY BY THE RULES
drowning incidents occur indicates that SUPERVISION CAN AND DOES FAIL.
The investigation by the Commission was directed at children under age five in Arizona,
California, and Florida who had drown in home swimming pools. The results might help you to
better understand why drowning is still the number one killer for three states and stands at
number two for the nation:
Who was in charge of supervision at the time of drowning?
69 percent of the accidents occurred while one or both parents were responsible for
supervision.
10 percent were adults other than the parents.
14 percent were sitters.
7 percent siblings
What was the location of the pool drowning?
65 percent were in a pool owned by the child's family.
22 percent at a relatives
11 percent happened at a neighbor's.
Drowning happens quickly and without warning. There is no cry for help.
77 percent of the children had been seen 5 minutes or less before being missed and
subsequently discovered in the pool.
Where were they last seen?
46 percent WERE LAST SEEN IN THE HOUSE prior to being found in the pool. Of these, 15
percent were thought to be sleeping.
23 percent were last seen in the yard, porch or patio, not in the pool area. That's a total of 69
percent that were thought not to be in the pool area.
31 percent were last seen in the pool or pool area.
What activity was the person responsible for supervision involved in at the time of drowning?
39 percent were doing chores.
18 percent socializing.
9 percent were busy on the telephone.
The suddenness of this type of accident and the results it yields is devastating to anyone it
touches. When you think pool, think hard core. Even if this is not your personality, you must
be an absolute dictator. Let your children know without any doubts, that is your way or none
at all.
LAYERS OF PROTECTION
Supervision is always your primary layer of protection, but as the study shows, 69 percent of
the drowning incidents occurred when parental supervision failed and there were not other
"backup layers" in use.
Access doors to the pool area with high locks are a secondary layer of protection.
Alarms on access doors is another layer of protection.
A pool safety barrier (fence) separating the pool from your home and all access doors and
entrances is one more layer of protection.
Water survival training for a child when he is capable of crawling or walking to the pool.
CPR and your knowledge of rescue techniques are a final layer of protection should there be
an accident.
The goal, with instituted layers of protection, is to come as close to a "fail safe" system of
preventing drowning incidents as possible. Meaning that if there is a momentary lapse of
supervision for whatever reason, we have several backup systems in place.
All must fail before a drowning can take place. A door has been left unlocked or open, the
alarm system or device for the door has been turned off, the pool safety barrier has been left
open, your child does enter the water, panics and does not attempt to utilize survival swim
training, CPR is administered too late to save the child.
THERE CAN BE NO COMPROMISE ON POOL SAFETY. YOU ARE DEALING, LITERALLY, WITH A
LIFE AND DEATH SITUATION.
Set down definite pool rules covering its use and more importantly, when it is not in use. We
all have a tendency to give a little leeway on this or that with our children, but not when it
comes to the pool.
Any door leading to the pool area should be kept locked.
Even if your home is equipped with an alarm system that will beep when perimeter doors are
opened, install simple contact alarms on the more often used doors as a further safeguard.
Pool Guard makes an excellent alarm designed strictly for access doors to the pool area. This
type of alarm must have the button pushed whenever the door is opened and has a delay
feature to keep if from sounding off for seven seconds for entering from the inside. It is
particularly useful if you have older children who open doors to the pool area. Sliding glass
doors should be locked at the top in addition to other locks. In two thirds of the drowning
cases studied where children were thought to be in the home, sliding glass doors were either
left open or opened by the toddler.
If you own a pool this is a must! Install a protective safety barrier or pool fence that will
eliminate access to the pool for young children and pets. (See Life Saver System info.)
Floating pool alarm devices with remote alarms sounding in the home can alert you to a child
falling into the pool. The pool surface, however, must be disturbed enough by the fall so as to
set off the alarm. Since these alarms do work off a disturbance to the surface of the pool;
your child could quietly walk down the steps, go under, drown, and never disturb the alarm or
set it off!!! They are quite inexpensive (around $100) and better than nothing at all since they
do detect some accidental falls if adjusted and placed properly. Alarm batteries and function
should be checked often to increase the safety margin and effectiveness of this type of device.
If this is your choice of protection; be sure the model you purchase has a remote alarm that
will sound in the house and a local alarm that will also alert someone near the pool area.
Another type of alarm on the market is designed to detect motion in the pool area with an
infrared beam. These alarms are independent of your burglar alarm systems and are designed
to be easily mounted outside without doing electrical work and have a remote alarm in the
home that can be plugged into any electrical outlet. Optek is one manufacturer of this type of
alarm.
Have your toddler trained for pool survival when he is able to crawl or walk to your pool.
This is introductory training to the water that is not intended to actually teach him to swim,
but more to provide the toddler with the necessary skills to help survive an accidental fall into
the pool. He should be taught to negotiate to a wall or steps and know how to get out. His
final lesson might include his being knocked unexpectedly into the pool fully clothed. Do not
be alarmed, the child's reaction is being monitored to help determine if the lessons have been
effective by using this simulated "panic situation". This type of survival training can usually be
very effective after just a week of daily lessons. From our own experience with both methods
and other parents we have spoken with, this method is considerably less traumatic than other
methods.
Another method of water survival training is to teach the child to roll over and float on his
back. It also is effective and has been taught successfully for many years. Be certain that he is
also taught how to get to the side of the pool and hang on or get out in addition to learning to
roll over and float.
You can determine which method will best suit your needs and the situation.
All types of survival swim instruction must be reintroduced to the toddler after a period of not
being in the pool; as in over the winter months.
Whichever way you go, do not be lulled into thinking that your child can have open access to
the pool area. Remember, this is just one layer of protection.
Every layer of protection possible must be in force at all times or the system is compromised.
If you have read or been told that your child cannot be taught water survival until age three
because he is incapable of learning at an earlier age, might get ear infections, that it "leads to
a false sense of security for the parent", or that such training is ineffective "because 55
percent of toddlers who drown had received survival swim training," please think for yourself!
Your child can be taught survival swimming and will retain it during water active months with
practice.
If you do not have your child in the water over the winter months, particularly a child under
age 3 years, he will require a refresher to "remember" what was learned the summer before.
This will usually take only a few days to accomplish and then you can proceed on to have him
learn additional techniques or start actual swimming lessons.
Yes, a large percentage of children who have drown did have survival swim training, what the
statistics cannot show you is how many have survived a fall into the pool because of this
training (many adults who drown could also swim). As to the "false sense of security", most
parents will not even leave a toddler alone in a bathtub much less knowingly let their child
near the pool unsupervised. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's study revealed that
75 percent of the victims of drowning were among 12 and 35 months of age. For these
children, 3 years old will never come.
Take the time to learn CPR and accident procedures. If not your own child, you may be able to
save someone else's. Many local hospitals have programs for this type of training.
Do not leave a toddler or young children in the pool or pool area without adult supervision.
Older children are not always as sensitive to the dangers of drowning when it applies to
others.
A mother told us that she was scolding an older brother (6 years old), as she snatched her
coughing 18 months old out of the pool where he had walked off the steps while she was
away for a moment. His answer was innocent "But I could see his eyes were open and he
wasn't crying." Hope the point has been made.
Never go into the house to answer the telephone and leave a child unattended in the pool
area. Numerous drowning incidents are associated with the answering of a telephone in the
house while the pool was in use by children.
A telephone installed at the pool area or the presence of a remote unit, on the other hand,
could prove to be an invaluable aid in the event of an accident.
Do not leave objects in the pool that could attract your child. Children who would not
normally go near a pool because of fear may not even think about the water if they are in
pursuit of a favorite toy in the pool.
"Staging platforms", such as tables and chairs, should not be kept near the pool fence.
Allowing the pool area to be used as a play area is as bad as letting young children play in a
busy street or with poisonous chemicals. Isolating the pool area to be used for swimming only
is the most essential concept of drowning prevention.
If you miss your child always check the pool first, even if access is thought to be restricted,
then look elsewhere.
In a drowning accident seconds can make the difference between death, recovery, or just
survival.
KEEP THEM SAFE AND PLAY BY THE RULES
Pool Safety Tips and Information