Keep your kids safe in the water

With temperatures in the triple digits, swimming weather has arrived. That means it's time to brush up on water-safety techniques to help keep your children safe in the water.

Swimming Lessons

First, make sure your children know how to swim well. The YMCA has swimming courses for people of any age and swimming ability. Contact your local YMCA for details. Even if your child has had lessons, he or she may need a refresher course in the spring.

Pool Safety

More than half of drownings among children ages 1 to 4 are pool related, and more than half of these occur in the child's home pool. Most of these children were last seen in the home and had been missing from sight for less than five minutes. It is possible to drown in any amount of water that covers the mouth and nose; more than half of drownings among infants younger than age 1 occur in bathtubs. Most children do not yell for help.

Ready!

• Create layers of protection between the water and your children.
• Install alarms on doors and windows that lead to the pool.
• Build a non-climbable five-foot fence between the house and the pool.
• Use self-closing fence gates that open outwards with latches out of the child's reach.
• Have rescue equipment mounted by the pool.
• Inflatable and plastic pools should always be emptied after use.
• Remove steps from above-ground pools.
• Drain water off the top of pool covers.
• Learn CPR.
• Talk to adults who are caring for your child around water; make sure they are prepared to practice good water watching techniques.
• Enroll children in swim lessons.

Set!

• Watching around water is most important. Never leave your child alone near a pool, spa, bathtub, toilet, bucket or any standing water in which a child's nose or mouth may be submerged.
• Assign an adult Water Watcher who is committed to supervising the pool area. Water Watchers pledge to:
• Constantly watch children in or near water.
• Wait to socialize or drink alcohol until they are off-duty.
• Double-check to make sure children are wearing appropriate personal flotation devices.
• Wear an item identifying themselves as the Water Watcher.
• Stay on duty until officially relieved by another Water Watcher.
• Have phone access near the water area.
• Wear personal flotation devices that are Coast Guard-approved.

Save!

• Call 911.
• "Throw! Don't go." Because a panicked child can pull an adult under water, you should throw rescue equipment to the victim. However, if a child too young to know to reach for rescue equipment, an adult should jump in to help him or her.
• Begin CPR.

Be a Water Watcher

No matter where you're swimming, it's important to assign an adult as the Water Watcher — someone who's in charge of supervising children while they're in the water. To get a free Water Watcher tag, enter "webpromo" as the password on the Water Safety Web Promotion login page.

Treating water-related accidents at Children's Medical Center

In 2007, the Emergency Department at Children's Medical Center saw 45 drowning or near-drowning cases:

• 5 died.
• 33 cases occurred in a pool.
• 11 were in the home (bath tub or hot tub/spa).
• 1 was in a lake.
• Age range was about 6 months old to 16 years old. The average age was nearly 4 years old.
• 29 cases were boys; 16 were girls.

Know Before You Go

Know Before You Go is a campaign to educate the community about how to help prevent drowning. The YMCA of Dallas, Children's Medical Center, American Red Cross-Dallas Chapter and the Safe Kids Dallas Area Coalition have come together to provide a series of presentations and on-going educational information.

Resources

Lake, river and ocean safety
Trauma
Water Safety
Safe Kids USA

Tags: swimming safety, water safety, drowning prevention, drowning safety tips