Pool Safety and Injury Prevention

Whether swimming for fun or sport, in an ocean, lake, or their own backyard, children love to swim.  Having a swimming pool in your yard presents a danger for children.  Water-related injury is a common cause of accidental injury/death among children and adults.  It is essential to protect your children and those in your neighborhood from the dangers of a backyard pool.  Following are pool safety tips that can safeguard you against such dangers.

• Never leave children in or near the pool unattended.
• Allow no distractions when children are in the pool.  No phones, doorbells, conversations, etc.
• Do not use air-filled floating devices, they are not life vest approved and should NEVER be used as a substitution for supervision.
• Remove all toys from pool when not in use.  Children may try to reach for pool toys and fall in.
• Pool area must be separated from the house by a fence.  A pool open to the house area presents a danger to children who wander out with the parent unaware.
• Pool fence should be 5 feet high and totally enclose the pool area.
• Fence latch should be self-closing and set high on fence, out of child’s reach.
• Remove pool covers completely when pool is in use.  If left partially on children can become entangled in them and drown.
• When pool use is done, secure the pool area so children can’t re-enter the pool.
• Teach children to swim.  Classes are also helpful in teaching young children to swim.
• Post pool rules: 
    -  No Running
    -  No Jumping
    -  No Pushing 
    -  No Diving
    -  No Swimming Alone
• Enforce pool rules.
• Post-emergency numbers near pool area.  Learn CPR.

NEVER SAY NEVER:   Even with precautions taken a drowning or near drowning could happen to you.  Be careful and be aware.