Pool Safety Week- Pools Should Be Fun Not Fatal

Pools should be fun not fatal

Swimming pools should be a place of happiness, relaxation and fun. Yet each year many families experience tragedies because of drowning and other pool injuries. Many of these tragedies could have been prevented. Adding an extra safety step in and around the water can make the difference around your pool. 

Too many families have experienced a close call when a child has a swimming, submersion, or even the scariest- a near drowning incident. These injuries could lead to broken bones, permanent brain damage, or the unfortunate-death.  Over three quarters of reported fatalities in pools were children younger than five.

The positive way of looking at pool dangers is that most injuries and drownings are preventable. By putting safety behaviors and systems into practice you can limit injuries even further. Use barriers and alarms on and near your pool. Create a pool safety toolkit to keep near the pool at all times. That way if the worst happens you are ready to respond.

Your pool safety kit should include a basic first aid kit, a pair of scissors (to cut hair     clothing or a pool cover) if needed during an emergency, a charged telephone to call 911 and a floatation device.

For more information on water safety or how to build your pool safety kit visit www.redcross.org.