Pool Safety

Summer fun can turn tragic in the blink of an eye

As the temperature edges higher, many in Texarkana and all over the Four States Area look forward to a cool dip in a sparkling pool.

Some have their own backyard pools or, even better, have an accommodating friend with one. Some belong to a club that has a pool. Others make use of public facilities.

Wherever you and your family swims, it’s important to put safety first.

That’s especially true when children take to the water. Far too often, we report a summer swimming tragedy that could have been prevented. We don’t want to do that this year.

The following pool safety tips are from the American Association of Pediatrics website at http://www.aap.org:

• Never leave your children alone in or near the pool, even for a moment. An adult who knows CPR should actively supervise children at all times.

• Practice touch supervision with children younger than 5 years. This means that the adult is within an arm’s length of the child at all times.

• You must put up a fence to separate your house from the pool. Most young children who drown in pools wander out of the house and fall into the pool. Install a fence at least 4 feet high around all four sides of the pool. This fence will completely separate the pool from the house and play area of the yard. Use gates that self-close and self-latch, with latches higher than your children’s reach.

• Keep rescue equipment (such as a shepherd’s hook or life preserver) and a telephone by the pool.

• Do not use air-filled “swimming aids” as a substitute for approved life vests.

• Remove all toys from the pool after use so children aren’t tempted to reach for them.

• After the children are done swimming, secure the pool so they can’t get back into it.

• A power safety cover that meets the standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) may add to the protection of your children but should not be used in place of the fence between your house and the pool. Even fencing around your pool and using a power safety cover will not prevent all drownings.

• Just because your child knows how to swim does not mean he or she is safe in the water.

Have fun in the water but always play it safe.