These are the Facts

• The majority of drownings occur in residential pools while children are unattended.
• For every child who drowns, four others are hospitalized for near-drowning, and as many as three suffer brain damage.
• Fifteen percent of children admitted for near-drowning die in the hospital.
• Typical medical costs for a near-drowning victim can range from $75,000 for initial emergency-room treatment to $180,000 a year for long-term care, while a near-drowning that results in brain damage can ultimately cost more than $4.5 million.
• Unprotected in-ground pools are 60 percent more likely to be involved in drownings than pools with complete four-sided isolation fencing.
• The majority of children who drown in swimming pools were last seen in the home, had been missing from sight for less than five minutes, and were in the care of one or both parents at the time of the drowning.

Water Safety Tips

• Teach children water safety and swimming skills as early as possible.
• Always brief babysitters on water safety, emphasizing the need for constant supervision.
• Appoint a “designated watcher” to monitor children during social gatherings at or near pools.
• Equip doors and windows that exit to a pool area with alarms.
• Install a poolside phone, preferably a cordless model, with emergency numbers programmed into speed-dial.
• Post CPR instructions and learn the procedures. Keep rescue equipment poolside. Don’t wait for the paramedics to arrive because you will lose valuable life-saving seconds. Four to six minutes without oxygen can cause permanent brain damage or death.
• Keep a first aid kit at poolside.
• Install four-sided isolation fencing, at least five feet high, equipped with self-closing and self-latching gates, that completely surrounds the pool and prevents direct access from the house and yard.
• Maintain constant visual contact with children in a pool or pool area.
• If a child is missing, check the pool first; seconds count in preventing death or disability.
• Don’t use flotation devices as a substitute for supervision.
• Never allow a young child in a pool without an adult.
• Don’t leave objects such as toys that might attract a child in the pool and pool area.
• Never prop the gate to a pool area open.
• Don’t rely on swimming lessons, life preservers, or other equipment to make a child “water safe.”
• Never assume someone else is watching a child in a pool area.
• Don’t leave chairs or other items of furniture where a child could use them to climb into a fenced pool area.
• Don’t think you’ll hear a child who’s in trouble in the water; child drowning is a silent death, with no splashing to alert anyone that the child is in trouble.

Should Your Child Take Swimming Lessons?

• Can your child roll over, float on his/her back, and yell for help?
  (This is the most important technique children can use to protect themselves from drowning while alerting others to their danger.)
• Does your child take refresher swimming classes every year?
  (Rapidly changing skills, different levels of development, and a limited attention span require that a child’s swimming abilities be continually updated.)
• Can your child swim above water?
  (Children need to know how to swim on top of the water to get adequate air and to find their way to safety.)