But accidental drowning is preventable.  Tara Holly of Brandon found this out over Christmas with Lofton, her 3-year-old son. Lofton and his older brother were riding their scooters around their pool, even though they were not supposed to be in the area.  She instructed them to return to the front yard. As Holly walked into the house, her older son ran in, yelling that Lofton was in the pool. She ran to the pool and Lofton was already holding onto the side. She pulled him out. 

Lofton had fallen, fully clothed, scooter and all, into the deep end of their pool. Fortunately, he had been enrolled in lessons at Maley Swim School over the summer, and continuing into the fall.  Because of his weekly lessons, he knew how to roll over onto his back, how to turn himself around and swim to the side. Since he had been taking swim lessons weekly, knowing what to do was fresh on his mind; he had practiced those survival techniques regularly. 

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Here are some pointers on what a parent can do to guard their children from a potential tragedy:

1. Teach your child to really swim through quality, on-going swim lessons.  The time you devote to gymnastics or piano—weekly sessions to ensure your child learns—is an indication of the time needed to learn a life skill like swimming.  Unfortunately, you cannot inoculate your child against drowning through a brief exposure to swim instruction. 
2. Have as many “layers” of protection as possible to reduce the risk of drowning. If a child manages to get through one barrier—the next will kick in. Layers include a fence that separates the house from the pool so children can’t walk out of the house; a perimeter fence around your pool; gates that open away from the pool with top latches children can’t reach it. Gate and door alarms can add an additional layer of protection.
3. Eliminate enticements.  Never leave anything a child could use to climb over the fence.  Do not leave children’s toys in or around the pool. Don’t let children ride toys around the pool deck.
4. Exterior doors and windows leading to the pool area should be locked. Consider  alarms set to chirp or beep at to alert the parent if they are opened.
5. Keep a phone by the pool so you don’t have to leave the pool area to answer it.  In case of an emergency 911 can quickly be called.
6. Always assign an adult “Water Watcher” who is able to swim. Many tragedies happen even though “everybody” is watching the pool, especially at pool parties.  Actually no one is. The Water Watcher never takes his eyes off the pool or leaves the pool area without a replacement; continuously scans the water’s surface and pool bottom; avoids becoming engaged in eating, talking on the phone and other distractions; stops all unsafe diving, playing and running; locates and learns how to use pool safety equipment. It’s even better to be CPR trained and First Aid certified. Not only do all caregivers need CPR, but they need to be able to swim well enough to get a child off the bottom of the pool.
7. Never consider or treat your child as “water-safe” despite his swim skills. Adult should always maintain constant eye supervision.
8. Teach children proper behavior around water.
9. Do not depend on flotation devices to protect children. Children can easily slip out or remove “floaties” or they can be defective. These devices give parents and children a false sense of security. The consequences can be tragic when relying on floaties to keep children water-safe.
10. Do not dive into shallow or murky water.  Remember, “Feet First First Time.”
11. Teach your family “Reach, Throw, Don’t Go.” Throw a floating object to a struggling swimmer and then get an adult immediately. They should not attempt to swim to a struggling swimmer.
12. Teach your family not to play the deadly game of seeing how far they can swim without a breath. Shallow water blackout (prolonged breath holding) occurs when the swimmer resists the urge to come up for a breath and can cause injury or death. The practice of hypoxic training should be banned in competitive swimming drills.
13. Pools and large bodies of water are not the only water dangers. Babies and toddlers can drown in small amounts of water such as toilets, bathtubs, buckets of water, and wading pools, Keep toilet lids shut and use toilet locks. Empty all buckets, containers and wading pools immediately after use and store them upside down.
14. If your child is missing, look first in the water—go to the edge, scan the bottom and corners. Children’s adventures sometimes put them in harm’s way. By their nature they tend to act without thinking of the consequences.
15. For every child who drowns, four are hospitalized and 16 receive care for near drowning, many with catastrophic conditions.
16. Be the adult and make the proper decision to protect your child.  To participate or not to participate? This is not an option or a child’s choice. Children don’t have the judgment to understand swim lessons teach life-saving skills needed throughout a lifetime to avoid drowning and near-drowning tragedies. Having your child become a strong swimmer could save his life or you grandchild’s life. Don’t make the mistake of waiting until your child asks for lessons.
17. When is enough enough? “Children must be taught beyond mastery to automaticity (over-learning) in order to perform accurately and quickly under real-world conditions, such as child falling into a pool with no adult supervision,” according to Lana Whitehead, (Arizona State University, May 1991). In 2004 the Consumer Product Safety Commission held hearings on pool and spa safety. The grieving parents of drowning victims told the commission they want anti-drowning education for parents to be as prevalent as the message to put children in car safety seats or not to drive drunk. One mom, Carole de Iberns of Florida, told of her 5-year-old son falling into the pool of a friend while the adults were momentarily distracted. Her son was left brain-damaged and unable to walk or talk, he died at 13 from pneumonia. She said, “People tell me all you have to do is supervise you kids. I was as vigilant as any parent could be because I cherished my kids.”

The best way to avoid tragedy is to be prepared. The professionals at Maley Swim School believe educating your family on water safety and giving your children the tools to survive a potential water tragedy is the best prevention. Maley Swim School has partnered with the Safer 3 Coalition. Safer 3 provides a multi-layered approach to drowning prevention.

Drowning is preventable! Please stop by Maley Swim School or visit the website (www.maleyswimschool.com) to learn more about the Safer 3 message.