Every kid knows the fire safety rule “Stop, Drop and Roll”! Why is that? Well, thanks to the efforts of Firefighters and Fire Safety Educators everywhere preschool kids have been taught some fire safety basics! What about water safety basics?
Ask that same little one to tell you a swimming pool safety rule about the water and you will get either “don’t run” or more typically “don’t pee in the pool”!
Go ahead and ask!
So let’s come up with a good one to remember for pool safety! Email your “pool safety rules and rhymes” to the Pool Safety Mom.
Because drowning is the number one fatal injury of children ages 1-4, we need to keep kids away from the pool unless they are vigilantly supervised. Backyard swimming pool drowning is a threat especially to toddlers. The CDC reported 81 children, (ages 1-4) drowned in California in 2005. Nationally, 65% of preschooler drownings occurs in the child’s own home pool, the rest at pools of friends, neighbors or relatives. (US CPSC)
It’s up to adults to keep toddlers away from the pool and to vigilantly supervise children near water. Every parent or guardian must supervise their own children, and assign a “Water Watcher” as an additional layer of protection– like a backyard lifeguard.
So, the Pool Safety Mom’s version of the Stop, Drop and Roll rule….is really for Adults…
“STOP” right there where you can see the pool and
“DROP” what you are doing…and
“WATCH the WATER”!
Backyard Swimming Pool Drowning is preventable with a multifaceted approach that includes Adult Supervision, layers of protection and physical Barriers, learning CPR and what to do in a crisis, and everyone should learn to SWIM in the water!