Summertime has arrived–and that means lots of vacation time, beach time and pool time! However, fun in the water means it’s time to talk about water safety. By taking important safety precautions and–most importantly–staying close and alert, you will be able to relax knowing that your loved ones are safe in the water this summer.
Learning and Practicing Water Safety Skills
- Learn how to swim and teach your child how to swim
- Learn to perform CPR on children and adults and update those skills regularly
- Visit the Red Cross website for more info
- Understand the basics of life-saving so that you can assist in a pool or other water-related emergency
- You can check out library books, find free resources online, and watch YouTube videos to learn the basics
- Always keep a phone close to you
Learning to Swim
Do you know how to swim? If not, why not learn? There’s no time like the present!
Swimming and enjoying time in the water can bring great joy–get in on the fun! Do a quick search for “swimming classes” in Google to begin finding out where you can sign up. Your local
YMCA is also a good place to start–most offer swimming classes.
Not only will you fully enjoy time in the pool or ocean, but you will also feel more confident when supervising other swimmers, especially children.
Children
When children are present, it’s especially important to stay close and fully alert. Accidents can happen in the blink of an eye–make sure to always take proper safety precautions when it comes to children and water.
First and foremost, never leave children unattended in the pool–even for a few minutes
- Teach children to swim: at very minimum, teach basic swimming skills such as treading water
- For small children and kids who cannot swim, make sure that proper water safety gear is worn, such as life vests
- Keep children away from pool drains, pipes and other openings to avoid entrapments
- Talk to children about the importance of water safety
Pool
Pool and/or spa owners should take extra care to take safeguard their pool/spa areas in order to prevent any accidents. It is an especially wise idea for pool owners to learn how to swim–and to make sure family members know how to swim as well. If you have guests coming over to use the pool, it is a good idea to find out at what level they can swim.
Some safety precautions:
- Install a four-foot or taller fence around the pool and spa and use self-closing and self- latching gates; ask your neighbors to do the same at their pools
- Install and use a lockable safety cover on your spa
- Install door alarms and always use them; also consider installing window guards on windows facing pools or spas
- Install pool and gate alarms to alert you when children go near the water
- Ensure any pool and spa you have has compliant drain covers
- Keep your pool or hot tub water clean and clear
- Maintain proper chemical levels, circulation, and filtration
- Make sure to test and adjust the chemical levels frequently in order to minimize the risk of earaches, rashes or more serious diseases