Cool New Pool Safety Devices To Keep Your Kids Safe
At a pool, children of ages one to four have a higher risk of drowning. Adult supervision may not even be sufficient to prevent it. Over the past couple of years, several products and devices have been developed, helping to keep people safe while at the pool. Among these include self-closing fences and self-locking gates. Some pools also have rigid covers which slide across them like a horizontal garage door.
Furthermore, there also exist electronic alarms of different designs. Children can wear them on their wrist like a watch. They will make a signal once they come in contact with water. Others can give an alarm sound once the child begins to move in the pool. When protecting children from drowning, nothing is foolproof. For this reason, it is very important that pool owners make layers of protection available at their pools.
In a recent survey carried out by CDC, children of ages 1 and 4 have a higher risk of fatal and nonfatal drowning. Residential swimming pools are responsible for most of the drowning. However, most cases of drowning in adult happen in natural waters. Child drowning usually occurs when you allow these kids to get into the water themselves.
CDC figures between 2001 and 2002 showed that 775 children of below 15 years of age lost their lives to drowning. Even though the rates have recently reduced, drowning still remains one of the major causes of children death.
Layers of Pool Protection
The principal protection layer is endless, adult supervision while the kids are swimming. There are still other protective measures. They include:
- Surround the pool by a fence. The fence should be at least 4 feet tall.
- The fence should possess self-latching and self-closing gates. The latches should be out of the children’s reach.
- Separate the pool from the house using the fence.
- Install an alarm in the pool’s door.
- A rigid, power safety pool cover should also be installed.
- Install an underwater motion swimming pool alarm.
Ensure that the type of alarms attached to the pool’s side should be able to detect underwater movement. You can check out the evaluation of various types of pool alarms as carried out by CPSC here www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/pdfs/alarm.pdf
Protection Backs Up Vigilance
As part of the layering of protection, electronic alarm systems also have a value. Even with an alarm, try as much as possible to be vigilant one your kids set foot into the water. Never leave your kids all alone in a pool. Not even for a single second.
Another survey conducted showed that supervision do fail on some occasions. Below is the result obtained for deaths of children below 5 years of age 5 in Arizona, California, and Florida that drowned in residential swimming pools:
At the time of drowning, who was supervising?
- 69% of the accidents occurred while one or both parents were supervising.
- 10% were adults different from the parents.
- 7% were siblings.
- 14% were babysitters.
What was the location of the pool drowning?
- 65% – Owned by child’s family.
- 22% – At a relative’s home.
- 11% – At the neighbor’s home.
Where were they seen last?
- 46% were seen last in the house. They were later found dead in the pool. 15% of parents and guardian thought they were sleeping in the house.
- 23% were seen last on the porch, in the yard, or patio, or areas far away from the pool.
- 31% were seen last in the pool or pool area.
What You Need To Do – Teach Your Child to Swim
In order to prevent a case of drowning from occurring, then you have to teach your kids how to swim. Even though there is no evidence to support that knowing how to swim will prevent drowning from occurring. The problem is that these kids are not strong enough to get themselves up and out of the pool after falling in.
Furthermore, ensure that you supervise them at every point in time and actually be outside in the backyard with them. Never allow them near the pool when you are not around. Make it a must from them to put on a Coast Guard-approved life jacket before stepping into the pool.
Lastly, whenever you have a pool party, children or adult, hire a lifeguard. It is important to maintain safety for both swimmers and non-swimmers through constant vigilance. Participants are busy partying, and may not know what is happening elsewhere. So if you’re sitting under your lattice patio cover in your backyard, watching your kiddos, be sure to use these tips to help protect your loved ones this summer!