Have a Pool? Before You Dive In, Think About Pool Safety

Over 3000 children are treated in the emergency room each year because they have been involved in a pool or spa accident. Sadly, about 260 children under the age of five drown in residential pools each year. You never want your child to be one of these statistics, and by making pool safety your number one priority, he never will be. What can you do to make your pool safer for everyone?

Most safety tips are not new; we may have heard them hundreds of times, but the best safety measures are the basics. Do not leave your children unsupervised and be vigilant. It is that simple. This is not to say you have to stand like a hawk, an anxious hawk at that, near the edge of the pool with a life preserver in one hand. What you should do, however, is always be with your children while they are using the pool. All it takes it running to get the phone one time or turning your back to talk to a neighbor or going inside to get some more sunscreen for an accident to occur.

What if your child has had swimming lessons? What if he’s a great swimmer? What if there is an older sibling or friend with him? It can be tempting, especially when you have younger children to care for, to just say, “Yes, go swimming.” But swimming lessons are not a guarantee that your child will stay accident-free. A big factor in drowning is panic. Even good swimmers can become confused or terrified, resulting in injury. If you have children, plan on being with them when they swim. Always.

Many accidental drownings occur when a child slips away from the house and decides to use the pool without telling anyone. This is tragic, but it can be prevented. The allure of a sparkling blue pool is hard to resist, so make sure that you have a pool net and/or fence that fully encloses the pool.

Look for a fence that is high enough to prevent climbing and which has a self-closing latch that opens from the pool side. This way, your child can let both of you out when you’re done swimming, but he can’t get back in by himself. Do not place patio furniture or other objects by the fence because nimble little legs love to climb. Make sure the fence can do its job.

Another very important tip is to involve your child and help him learn to protect himself. Talk to him about the danger of playing in the pool without an adult, and stress that he always has to be careful. You don’t want to scare him away from swimming, but you do need to emphasize that safety comes first. This is especially important because thirty-three percent of residential pool drownings occur when children are at someone else’s house. Your child needs to know the rules even when you are not there to remind him. Teach him that if there is not an adult out there, he should not go into the pool.
Your pool should be a source of enjoyment for your whole family, and it will be if you keep safety as your top priority. Purchasing and installing a good fence and taking other important steps will provide you security and peace of mind so your children can get on with the important business of splashing and learning how to do a back float.

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