Water Safety / Drowning Prevention

Drowning is a quick and silent killer. There is no screaming, no shouting for help, sometimes not even a big splash. In the time it takes to:

• across the room for a towel (10 seconds), a child in the bathtub can become submerged.

• answer the phone (2 minutes), that child can lose consciousness.

• sign for a package at your front door (4 to 6 minutes), a child submerged in the bathtub or pool can sustain permanent brain damage.

Despite a 34 percent decline from 1987 to 1998, drowning is still the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death to children ages 14 and under, nationwide and the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death in Florida. Drowning takes nearly 1,000 children’s lives each year. For every child who drowns, four more are hospitalized for near-drowning; for every hospital admission, approximately four children are treated in hospital emergency rooms.

What can parents do to help their children stay safe in and around water? Below are a few safety tips offered by the Safe Kids Seminole County Coalition:

• Learn to swim. The best thing anyone can do to stay safe in and around the water is to learn to swim.

• Never allow your child to swim alone.
• Swim in supervised areas only. Maintain constant supervision. Watch children around any water environment (pool, stream, lake, tub, toilet, bucket of water), no matter what skills your child has acquired and no matter how shallow the water
• Obey all rules and posted signs.
• Pay attention to local weather conditions and forecasts. Stop swimming at the first indication of bad weather.
• Know how to prevent, recognize, and respond to emergencies.
• Don't rely on substitutes. The use of flotation devices and inflatable toys cannot replace parental supervision. Such devices could suddenly shift position, lose air, or slip out from underneath, leaving the child in a dangerous situation.
• Parents should learn CPR. Take a course from the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross.