Swimming Pool Safety for Children

Water and children can be a fun, enjoyable and healthy combination as long as a few simple safety rules are followed to prevent drowning and near drowning.

Adult supervision, effective swimming pool barriers and knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) will help provide a safe and fun atmosphere for you and your family.

Quality Swimming Pools and Spas is strongly committed to reducing the number of drowning and near-drowning accidents so we have included these helpful swimming pool safety tips provided by the National Swimming Pool Safety Committee.
 

 

SUPERVISION OF CHILDREN IN A SWIMMING POOL

• Never take your eyes off a child when he or she is in or near any body of water, not even for a second.
   
• Do not rely solely on barriers, such as swimming pool fences or walls. This is no substitute for constant supervision.
   
• Keep toys, tricycles, and other children's playthings out of the water and away from the swimming pool or spa.
   
• Do not consider your children to be "drown-proof" because you enrolled them in swimming or "waterproofing" classes.
   
• Do not rely on inflatable devices to keep your child afloat. These are not substitutes for adult supervision.

SWIMMING POOL BARRIERS (FENCES)

• Make sure your swimming pool or spa area meets all necessary barrier requirements such as a fence, wall or safety cover that guards against unsupervised access, particularly by young children.
   
• Make sure doors leading to the swimming pool or spa area are self-closing and self latching, or are equipped with exit alarms, and are never propped open. Gates should have self-closing, self-latching mechanisms. Latches should be out of reach of young children and kept in proper working order.
   
• Make sure the safety cover is always closed when the pool or spa is not in use.
   
• Always drain standing (surface) water from the pool cover. Remember that even a few inches of water can be hazardous, especially to young children.

SWIMMING POOL EMERGENCY PROCEDURES

• Learn how to administer lifesaving techniques to children, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
   
• Install a phone, or keep a cordless phone, in the pool or spa area.
   
• Post the emergency medical services phone number (i.e. 911) in an easy to see place near the swimming pool or spa, and make sure that everyone learns the phone number(s) and their addresses.

A number of safety devices and tools are available to make the pool area safe and enjoyable. These include signs for pool safety and rules, life rings to throw to a person in trouble, "shepherd's hooks" to use to extract an incapacitated person from the water, buoys and ropes to divide the shallow end from the deep end of a swimming pool, and alarms which emit a loud noise in the event someone were to fall into the pool.

Remember that no matter how many barriers exist around the pool area, THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR CONSTANT DIRECT ADULT SUPERVISION.

It only takes a few seconds for a child to fall into the swimming pool and drown. Also, this is NOT limited to children. Anyone who is not able to swim is in danger of drowning if he or she falls into the pool. Under no circumstances should anyone not able to swim be allowed in the pool area unsupervised.