Recommendations:
Parents should practice these measures to help protect their children from drowning at home:
Entrapment Prevention
- Teach children to stay away from pool and spa drains, and tie up long hair securely to guard against entanglement and entrapment.
- If you own a pool or spa, install anti-entrapment drain covers and a safety vacuum release system. For new pools or spas, install more than one drain.
- Maintain drain covers properly.
- If you find a drain cover that is loose, broken or missing, do not enter the pool or spa; notify the owner or operator.
- Actively supervise children in and around the pool or spa, giving them undivided attention
- Appoint a designated adult (18 or older) to watch the children in the pool, taking turns with other adults.
- Keep a phone nearby in case of an emergency.
- Enroll your child in swimming lessons after age 4 — they will be more likely to practice and retain information. Teach children how to tread water, float and how to get out of the pool safely
- Keep your child in arm’s reach. Do not rely on inflatable toys.
- Make sure you and your child knows depth of the pool at the deep end and how far they can safely go in the pool
- Find out when and where diving is allowed, if at all. In commercial area “No Diving is Allowed)
- Never dive in water less than nine feet deep
- Learn infant and child CPR and rescue safety tips
- Know where the for lifesaving equipment in located in the pool area
- Install fencing at least five feet tall on all sides of the pool (completely surrounding the pool) and install self-closing, self-latching gates. (This can prevent a child from wandering from the house or neighborhood into the pool area unsupervised. Some removable fencing meets these specifications and may be an option for large)
- Inflatable pools, but check local regulations
- Maintain proper pool chemical levels at all times
- Filtration system should be operating properly at all times
- Keep pool covered and locked when not in use
- Keep spas covered and locked when not in use
- Install a door alarm, a window alarm or both to alert you if a child wanders into the pool or spa area unsupervised
- Keep lifesaving equipment by the pool or spa, including a shepherd’s hook, life ring and a telephone
- Practice good hygiene. Shower with soap before swimming and wash your hands after using the toilet or changing diapers. Germs on your body end up in the water.
- Don’t swim when you have diarrhea. You can spread germs in the water and make other people sick.
- Don’t swallow the pool water. Avoid getting water in your mouth
- Keep pool deck and pool surface free of debris
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