As always, our aim is to help you make your pool safer. Better yet, this post includes a special video message from Eric Lupton, President of Life Saver Pool Fence System, Inc.

In his video, Eric offers some great tips on how to make your pool environment safer for your children.

You can watch Eric’s video here in its entirety:

You don’t ever want to put all your faith in a single protective measure. It’s important to remember that a child can drown in a matter of seconds. In fact, drowning is actually the number one accidental killer of children under five years old. This is a very serious issue for anyone who has children and a swimming pool. By creating layers of protection, you greatly reduce the chances of any water-related danger.

With that, let’s take a closer look at the tips Eric put forth in his video: 

Active Parental Supervision

Don’t underestimate the power of active parental supervision to make your pool safer. As we mentioned, tragedy can happen quickly in the water. Adults must keep a keen eye on any children near the water.

Put simply: active supervision means sitting close to the pool with your full attention on the child or children. Make sure the supervisor does not have any other distractions at hand. That means that you shouldn’t be playing on your phone, reading or socializing.

At pool parties, we recommend choosing a “designated supervisor.” This adult will focus entirely on keeping the kids safe. That said, you may want to change shifts every 15 minutes or so. This will make sure that fatigue and boredom don’t overcome your designated supervisor.

Of course, in 67% of fatal drowning cases, a parent was responsible for supervising the child. So, supervision can and does fail. This is why additional layers of protection are so important.

Locks and Alarms

Child-proofing your home is a critical safety step you can take to make your pool safer. Additionally, any door and window that leads to the pool area needs to be locked up tight. Any locks in your home should be installed outside the reach of any young children. Many drownings happen without parents ever realizing that their child had figured out the doorknob or had gotten outside. That’s where an alarm comes in handy. Drowning is often silent. Alarms break that silence.

In addition to securing your home with locks and alarms, every pool owner should install alarms on doors, windows and any other entrances to the pool. In an instance when a child gets out of the house and into the pool area, it is even possible to install an alarm in the pool itself. This alarm will go off in case of an accidental immersion.

Our favorite alarm, the Safety Turtle, is worn by your child. If your child falls into the pool, an alarm inside the house goes off. Alarms and locks combined can form a powerful layer of protection.

Install a Pool Fence

This goes hand-in-hand with locks and alarms. Obviously, we’re huge fans of pool fences. There’s a good reason for that: pool fences work to make your pool safer! Installing one of these affordable barriers will physically isolate your backyard from your swimming pool area.

To be truly effective, any fence should be at least four feet tall. Additionally, it must include a self-closing, self-latching gate. If you’d like to learn more about pool fence installation, check out this handy guide.

Swimming Lessons

Swimming lessons are important for the entire family. All children should receive swimming instruction as early as their parents and pediatricians feel comfortable. In fact, lessons can begin earlier than one might think. Some organizations even train infants to roll over, float, and to swim to the edge of the pool in the event that they fall in. Just last week, we interviewed Darlene Haskins, a Self-Rescue Survival Swimming instructor. She had some great lessons to share with our readers.

Additionally, it’s never too late for adults to learn to swim. A surprising number of Americans do not consider themselves to be strong swimmers. It’s time to change that! Should a child fall into the pool, it is important for any nearby adult to be able to help rescue them. One of our most popular blogs offers tips for adults looking for swimming lessons in their local areas.

Learn CPR

CPR training saves lives. In the event that all other layers of protection fail, an adult that is properly trained in CPR can rush to the rescue. Learning the importance of CPR and becoming certified is one of the smartest safety choices anyone can make. After all, knowledge of CPR can make the difference between life, permanent disability, and death.