Water Safety - An Extra Minute Can Save a Life

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say how much it breaks my heart to hear about a death caused by drowning. Whether it’s an adult or a child, it’s always sad to me to think that a life could have been spared if someone would have taken just one more minute to ensure a safe environment for these people. The truth is that most drownings can be avoided when people just take that extra minute to think before they or their friends do something dangerous.

This summer, I have already heard of two drowning deaths that have affected people I know. Please take a minute to read these water safety tips before you are the children in your care do any activity in or near the water.

Water Saftey Tips

If the children in your care or adults in your presence cannot swim, put a life jacket or other approved flotation device on them every time you are near or in a pool, lake, pond or other body of water with them. That includes fishing, boating or any other activity that can land them in the water by accident. If someone is concentrating on catching a fish, they may lost their footing and fall in. If there is a boating accident on the lake, someone can fly out of the boat and land in the water.

Enroll any member of your family who cannot swim in swimming lessons. Children can learn to swim before they even learn to walk. Adults can enroll in swim classes that are just for adults.

Never swim alone and don’t let children swim unsupervised. Even experienced swimmers can have unexpected cramps or other freak accidents that put them in danger when nobody else is around.

Only swim in areas monitored by a lifeguard. If it’s your own pool, be sure an experienced swimmer is always monitoring swimmers in your pool.

Do not swim or boat while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. These substances can impair your judgment, making you a danger to yourself and others.

If you have a pool, keep it fenced in with a lock on the gate to keep children out. If you don’t have a fence around your pool, put extra locks higher up on the doors leading out to your pool. Even though we’d like to think we can keep an eye on our children 24/7, you don’t know when they will wake up in the middle of the night and decide to go outside. Or, they may decide to head outside when the phone rings or something else happens to distract you. Put locks at the top of the doors where they can’t reach them even when standing on a chair. Remember, it only takes six inches of water to drown a child.

Always wear a life jacket in a boat, even if you are an experienced swimmer. Rough waters and others boaters can cause accidents that put you in danger.

Don’t swim in any body of water when it is dark outside and there is not adequate lighting. It can be extremely difficult to find the surface of the water once you go under, and it’s more difficult for others to find you in the dark.

Finally, take a CPR class. It’s only a few hours out of your day, but that knowledge can save someone’s life.

Whatever you do this summer, we hope you do it safely.