Did you know in 2009 more than 600 drownings occurred in the United States?
About 300 children drown each year in the United States in hot tubs and pools. Even when you are going to a pool that has life guards watch your children. Life guards are not babysitters. They are there as a last resort. You have to remember that they have lots of people to look after not just your child.
The Drowning Prevention Foundation says 19% of all child drownings happen in public pools where guards are on duty. Keep an eye on your child at all times.
(Source: http://blog.poolcenter.com/article.asp?articleid=6044)
One finding reinforces how quickly submersion accidents can happen. It was found that a child can drown in the time it takes to read 3 sentences and that these children had been missing or out of sight for merely 5 short minutes or less. The child’s survival solely depends on prompt rescue and resumption of breathing since a precious second lost could lead to damaging the brain or worse, death. The CPSC research asks parents and pool owners to observe swimming pool laws, especially since child drowning is a silent and fast death where there are no signals.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (www.cpsc.gov ) did a study on drowning in the USA .The results revealed that 75% of submersion victims were 1-3 years old, 65% of whom were boys. Accordingly, toddlers were more at risk because of their ever-changing capabilities and attempts at autonomy particular to their age group. Interestingly, swimming pool laws were somehow being followed as most victims were being supervised by one or more parent at the time of the accident. Moreover, these children were not expected to be near the pool 69% of the time and yet they were discovered in the water. Most of these submersion accidents happened in a familiar place—in swimming pools owned by the family (65%) and in pools owned by a relative or a friend (33%).
(Source: http://blog.poolcenter.com/article.asp?articleid=6051)
Please, please, educate your children about pool safety, watch them at all times while near any body of water and get them the proper swim instruction.
Rachel Sanger
