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Before we know it, the weather will warm up and we will be able to participate in outdoor activities again.
Kids and families will be playing ball, riding bikes and participating in water sports and other outdoor activities. As with any outdoor or physical activity, we need to keep safety in mind. Many accidents are preventable; all it takes is education, prevention and awareness.
Water-based activities can be fun, but without the proper safety precautions can be dangerous as well. Drowning is the fourth leading cause of accidental death*. Accidents can happen anywhere – at the beach, a water park and in your own back yard. Before you think about opening your pool for the season or heading to the beach for a spring break or summer vacation, take the time to learn how to prevent accidents and learn what you can do in an aquatic emergency.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission offers a few tips on staying safe in your home pool and spa.
• Learn how to swim and teach your child how to swim;
• Teach children basic water safety tips;
• Keep children away from pool drains, pipes and other openings to avoid entrapments;
• Have a portable telephone close by at all times when you or your family are using a pool or spa;
• Share safety instructions with family, friends and neighbors;
• Learn to perform CPR on children and adults, and update those skills regularly;
• Understand the basics of life saving so that you can assist in a pool emergency;
• Always watch your children when they are in or near a pool or spa;
There are organizations in your community that can address some of these concerns. Your community YMCA provides water enrichment, aquatic safety and swimming lessons to children as young as 6 months old. The Y has been teaching individuals to swim for over 100 years. Along with learning to swim, the Y teaches Lifeguarding classes, aquatic safety classes as well as CPR and First Aid.
Call the Eastern Community YMCA at 419-691-3523 for swim lesson registration dates and times, Lifeguard classes and all other safety classes. Check us out on the web at www.ymcatoledo.org.
*(On the Guard II, 4th Edition, YMCA of the USA), www.poolsafely.gov
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