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Monday, March 18, 2024

Summertime Water Safety Tips for the Whole Family

TotesNewsworthy has these great summertime water safety tips.

Summertime is the time of year when children look forward to school-free days and spending time with family and friends. However, adults need to keep safety in mind when it comes to summertime fun.

In 2016 alone, more than a thousand children died in both backyard pools and open water spaces. In the same year, many estimates say that another seven thousand children were hospitalized due to near-fatal drowning incidents. This puts pool safety at the top of our water safety tips.

Child with paddle on kayak.

Water Safety Tips

Rule number one is always to have an adult who is an experienced swimmer within an arm’s reach of an inexperienced swimmer. Do not rely on older children to watch younger ones as they are too easily distracted.

Also, a younger child in distress can pull a larger child underneath with him. Second, make sure to designate at least one, preferably two responsible adults to be water watchers.

Again, you will want to rotate people in that position every fifteen to twenty minutes, so they do not get bored or distracted.

Water Safety Tips for the Whole Family

It is also crucial to teach children that swimming in open water is different than swimming in pools. Changes in depths, currents, uneven ground, and even possible encounters with sealife should all be thoroughly discussed before entering the waters.

Imagine what would happen if your young child sees a jellyfish for the first, and they did not know of its sting. Do you think they would grab for it?

Also, get in the water with your children and make sure they know how cold it is, how good or bad the visibility is and practice having them float on their back until you are both comfortable with their skill level.

Summertime Water Safety Tips for the Whole Family

Water Safety Tips for the Whole Family

Weak swimmers and young children should always be required to wear a life vest when they are in or on open waters. These times include any trips on boats, jet-skis, or any other type of watercraft.

Make sure that your children know what to expect if the worst case scenario happens, and for some reason, they fall off. Now is not the time you want them to panic.

You will want them to know how cold the water is, what type of visibility they will experience and that the more they relax, the easier it will be for them to float on top of the water and have confidence that you are coming for them.

Water Safety Tips

Take the time to teach your children how to swim. If you are not confident in your skills, take them to swim class, or better yet, join them in swim class.

Also, most lifeguard associations do not recommend arm floaties for more than one season as they will give your small child a false sense that they know how to swim when they do not.

That is why the best deterrent to water accidents is education and well-established safety rules.

Hawaii surfer

Read more – How to Teach Children to Conserve Water

For more information please visit this link.

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