POOL SAFETY
By Amy Gordon

Each year, more than 300 children under 5 years old drown in residential swimming pools which are most often in their own backyard. Children who are transported to the hospital with submersion injuries measures over 3,000. These visits often result in lengthy hospital stays treating brain damage and other disabilities.

General Safety Tips
Safety Barriers
GENERAL SAFETY TIPS

Always make sure that a responsible adult is designated to watch children while they are swimming. The adult should be able to scan the entire area within 10 seconds and be able to reach the pool within 20 seconds.

When a pool is in the vicinity and a child is missing, check the pool first. Time is of the essence when preventing a drowning accident.

Young children should never be allowed to swim unsupervised simply because they have just had swimming lessons.

Flotation devices, toys and inflatable swimming aids are never a substitute for responsible supervision and they are not safety devices.

Always keep life preservers and other rescue devices nearby the pool.

All toys should be cleaned up when you leave the pool as it may be an attraction for children when no one is around and they may fall in.

Getting certified in infant and child CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) is extremely important if you own a pool. Make sure your children are taking swimming lessons as well.

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SAFETY BARRIERS
Multiple barriers should provide back-up systems that will help delay a childs efforts to get near the pool. Adult supervision is not to be substituted by these barriers. It has been noted that a child can be missing for less than five minutes in many drowning accidents.
Below are some barriers ideas if you have not already put some up:

A 4-foot fence with a self-closing, self-latching gate with a locking mechanism that is beyond the childs reach. Completely separate the pool area from the house and the play area with the fence.

Both in-ground and above-ground pool covers are a must not only for debris, but also as a safety device.

Alarms are also a great way to add security to your pool. These three, pool motion alarms, motion sensor alarms and gate alarms, all emit piercing sounds to alert everyone any time someone approaches or jumps into the pool.

Above-ground pools should not have ladders or portable steps around then the pool is not in use.

Wading pools that are not drained are serious hazard to small children and infants. Infants can drown in just a few inches of water. Always drain wading pools when not in use.

Be sure that your pool is in plain view of your house. Do not have shrubs, vegetation or bushes obstructing the view of the pool.

Remove any items that could be used by children to climb over fences such as chairs or ladders. Also, nearby trees should be trimmed so that there are no limbs hanging over and overhanging roofs should also be made inaccessible.

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