A Paramedic's View of Pool Fences

As a paramedic/firefighter here in the Phoenix area, I'm a first responder to child drownings. Having a pool fence is an essential part of your backyard if you have a swimming pool. A common misconception is that a child will always be watched. Having met people who had shared this belief AFTER their has drowned is etched in my soul. Installing a swimming pool safety fence is a small price to pay for a child's safety. Listen and learn from someone who has been out on these calls - a pool fence is a necessary tool to protect your child against drownings and near drownings. All such accidents can be prevented by simply installing a removable pool fence and creating a barrier between a small child and a swimming pool.

Tim Maloney
Pool Guard of Phoenix

Natural Disasters and Pool Safety

Here in San Diego we recently have experienced one of the worst natural disasters in Southern California's history - uncontrollable wildfires. This has posed a number of problems concerning pool safety.

The first deals with individuals whose homes have burned and are now unlivable. I personally experienced this myself when I lived in New Orleans and my home was damaged due to Hurricane Katrina. The first thing I did as far as home restoration was concerned was to secure my pool area. My family was not living in the home, but other children in the neighborhood were still living there and could access my pool with very little trouble. I immediately had a pool fence installed, secure in the fact that a pool fence would keep neighborhood children safe from an accidental drowning. I would strongly recommend anyone who has a pool in the San Diego area and has suffered damage to their home and was forced to evacuate the home to contact Pool Guard and allow us to help you secure your pool by installing pool fences.

Additionally, if you decide to drain your pool while construction is occurring, I would suggest having a swimming pool safety fence installed to prevent a child from falling into the swimming pool.

Koy Nichols
Pool Guard of San Diego

Secret Santa Gives a Pool Fence For Christmas

Christmas is all about being with family, sharing the joys that the season can bring and watching our kids anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus. Even adults get giddy waiting for the magic of Santa and viewing hm through a child's eyes. Well, who says you have to be a kid to enjoy Santa? Pool Guard of Arizona was recently contacted by a "Secret" Santa who wanted to give his daughter, son-in-law and 15 month old grandson the gift of child safety. The Secret Santa asked us to sneak into his daughter's backyard and measure for a pool fence. We were happy to be able to be a part of this great gift of pool safety.

Once we finalized all of the details we were able to access the backyard, install the pool fence and make our escape before anybody got home. We weren't able to see the smile and relief the parents must have felt knowing that their baby was now protected from the backyard pool, but we know they must have been thrilled. Their Secret Santa would not be disclosed until Christmas Day. It's great to imagine how the conversation went. We now believe that there really IS such a thing as Santa.

This Secret Santa gave a priceless gift to his family - the gift of knowing true peace of mind and knowing that their baby is safe around the swimming pool now that a pool fence has been installed.

Pool Guard of Arizona
Tim & Gina Maloney

How Pool Fences Can Prevent Accidents....

Even when a child knows how to swim!

Recently a five year old boy who knew how to swim fell into his backyard swimming pool. When he fell in he was wearing his clothing and shoes and he panicked and was not able to swim. Luckily, the little boy's father was nearby and pulled him out of the pool and administered mouth-to-mouth resucitation.

Pool Guard installed the pool fence around the pool on the very day the little boy was released from the hospital. I have always told customers to keep the pool fence in place because children can panic; however, I had never thought about clothing and shoes making it harder for a small child to swim to safety. The parents of this five year old have no intention of ever taking the pool fence down.

Pool Guard of South Florida
Greg Young

The A,B,C & D's of Pool Safety

This is a great way to remember the importance of safety around the family swimming pool and to keep small children safe:

*A - Adult Supervision: It is important to remember that there is no substitute for adult supervision when small children have access to a swimming pool. Always appoint one adult as the "designated supervisor".

*B - Barriers: These include pool fences and self-closing gates. By installing a pool fence and a reliable self-closing walk-thru gate you are insuring that you have created a complete barrier between a small child and the pool.

*C - Classes: Swimming classes for the kids and CPR for Mom and Dad. Every child should know how to swim. While you may install a pool fence around your swimming pool to protect your little ones, you may take your children to a home where there is a swimming pool, but no pool fence. It is vital that children learn how to swim at as early an age as possible. Every parent should know CPR.

*D - Devices: These include life jackets and keeping a telephone outside by the pool at all times.

Pool Guard of Las Vegas
Steven Powell