Keep Your Children Safe Around the Pool

Now that summer is here, your family may be doing a lot more swimming. Swimming can be a fun activity for everyone but pools can be dangerous places for children unless you are prepared. Here are some tips to help you keep your child safe around the pool:

• Never leave your children alone in or near the pool.
• Instruct child care providers about the safety hazards for children around pools and emphasize that children must be supervised in or around the pool at all times.
• Make sure that you can reach out and touch any child under five at all times while swimming.
• Install a fence around your pool. Your fence should be at least four feet tall on all four sides. You should also install self-closing and self-latching gates. Make sure that all latches are out of your child’s reach. Most drownings with children occur because they wander out to a pool and fall in.
• Keep rescue equipment near the pool such as a shepherd’s hook or a life preserver. You should also have a phone close by.
• Remove steps to above-ground pools when not in use. However, this is not a substitute for a fence.
• Learn CPR
• Place outdoor furniture away from the pool area so that children may not use them to climb inside of the fence and fall into the pool.
• Use an approved life vest, not air-filled swimming aids.
• Make sure that you have a clear view of the pool from your house.
• Use a float-line across the pool to mark where the deep end begins.
• Teach your children about good pool safety habits and make sure they understand that running, pushing others, diving or jumping into shallow waters, and “dunking” are all dangerous activities.
• Be sure to remove all toys out of the pool once you are finished swimming so that children are not tempted to go in after them.
• Remember, even if your child knows how to swim, that does not mean that he or she is safe around water.

Following these tips and using a good dose of common sense will help keep your children safe this summer in and around the pool.