Keep your kids safe around the pool
Kids and pools go hand in glove. But pools can also be dangerous places for children if you don’t follow a few simple safety rules
When you’re a child, your idea of a swimming pool is pretty single-focused: jump in and have loads and loads of fun. Splash. Jump. Scream. Soak. Swim under water and resurface with fanfare. Does life get any better than this? Of course not.
Swimming pools are fun for parents, too. The water is soothing. The air is fresh. And sometimes parents like to frolic around, too. And, of course, parents like to see their children enjoying themselves out in the fresh air, away from the TV screen, the video games screen, the music players and all those other sedentary basement things that kids are into these days. Even teenagers will take a break from their isolation and be part of the family again for a short time.
But water is dangerous, and every year 750 American children 14 years old and younger drown, many in backyard swimming pools, and another 4000 are severely enough injured that they need to be hospitalized. Pool safety is serious business.
The first and most obvious pool safety tip for kids is to make sure you have a solid pool fence installed, to keep young neighbourhood children – including your own – from wandering into the pool unattended. That is how most swimming pool drownings happen. You can build one yourself if you know what you’re doing, but you might want to call a fence contractor to make sure the fence is build strong and solid. Use gates that self-close and self-latch, with latches higher than your children’s reach, and make sure the fence is at least four feet high.
Here are a few mote top tips and tactics to keep your kids safe in the swimming pool this summer…
Never leave children alone. Drowning takes just a couple minutes, and it can – and often does – happen while parents step away from the pool “for just a moment”.
Keep lifesaving equipment next to the pool. Remember, these are NOT toys. Don’t let the kids (or your friends) play with them or move them.
Make sure your pool deck has a non-slip surface. That will make it less likely that there will be a fall-related accident (Yes, they do happen frequently – kids love to run, even if you tell them not to).
Make sure any electrical appliance or device is protected by a ground fault circuit interrupter, in case they come in contact with the water. Better yet, keep radios and such far away from the water and far away from where they can fall in the water.
The American Academy of Paediatrics recommends “touch supervision” for all children under five years old. That means that the parent should ensure the child is within arm’s reach at all times. If something happens, you are in a position to intervene.
As soon as they are ready, invest in swimming lessons. Not only will they learn swimming skills from people who are trained to teach, but they will learn water safety skills. Yes, I know you think you can teach them perfectly well, but there are some things that are worth seeking professional help. Unlike skating lessons and craft camp, the swimming lessons your children take a kids, might save their lives at any time in their lives. And if not their lives, the lives of someone they love.
So you’ve installed your pool, and you are ready to build the deck. Call your pool fence builder to build the fence and also the deck, so that it is also strong and sturdy. Finally, one last little tip…
Have a blast!
Resources:
Did you know that there is a pool fence company in almost every city? For instance, you might want a Boston pool fence company.
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