Keep Children Safe In Backyard Pools

Any homeowner with a pool should be concerned about the potential of a drowning. If you have children, or children live in the neighborhood, it important to take steps to prevent the chance of a pool accident or drowning injury. Implement the following tips to keep children safe in your backyard pool.

Limit Access and Desire

Install a fence that surrounds your pool completely. Keep the deck clear of toys, such as balls. Your goal is to make it impossible for a child to enter the pool area without the assistance of an adult. Therefore, a fence is necessary. You also want to dissuade anyone from attempting to retrieve a toy from inside the pool area. Kids may try to climb over the fence because they want to play with the ball. Keep toys out of sight so they don’t entice children to enter the pool area unattended.

Understand Safety Devices

If your children, or the children in the neighborhood, have not had formal swimming lessons, they may not be safe in the water. Don’t make the mistake of offering them a pool noodle or other inflatable device as a safety measure. Air-filled and foam toys are not safety devices, they are toys. Life jackets are the only thing designed to keep non-swimmers safe.

Provide Constant Supervision

An adult needs to supervise every minute a child is in the pool. This is true even if the child is wearing a life jacket. Adult supervision is mandatory to prevent a drowning or near-drowning. Life jackets help but don’t always prevent a drowning since the face can still go in the water with the life jacket on. The adult providing the supervision should not be reading a book or talking on the phone or doing anything else. If the child is young, or can’t swim, the adult should stay within reach at all times.

Monitor Weather Conditions

A homeowner is responsible for monitoring the weather conditions and acting accordingly. If thunder is heard or lightning observed, everyone must get out of the pool and stay out of the pool for 30 minutes. The timer restarts for each subsequent thunder or lightning until the storm has completely passed.

Take the above steps to reduce the risk of a pool accident or drowning injury this summer. For additional information, contact us.