Prevent Drownings in your Home and at the Pool

Orange County drownings reached a four-year high in 2012. It takes only seconds and a couple inches of water for a child to drown. The following steps can help prevent drownings.

  1. Install safety locks on toilets and keep bathroom doors closed when there are small children in the home.
  2. Empty all cleaning buckets immediately after use.
  3. Empty kiddie pools immediately after using them and never leave children unattended around the pool when it is full.
  4. Install barriers around your home pool. These should be at least 4 feet high around the entire pool. Make sure the latch is out of the reach of small children. Installing alarms and pool covers add an additional layer of protection.
  5. Do not allow children to have breath-holding competitions.
  6. Do not consume alcohol when watching children swim. It takes only seconds to drown and if you have been drinking your reaction time might not be fast enough.
  7. Become CPR certified.

The signs of drowning are not as apparent as the movies make them out to be. Oftentimes most of the movement happens after the child is completely submerged under the water. Keep your eyes on your children at all times even if they are excellent swimmers.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.