When it comes to water safety, it’s easy to make mistakes. Today, we are exploring our top four water safety mistakes that parents should keep in mind. At Life Saver Pool Fence, we speak with safety experts constantly. These regular interactions help to keep us up-to-date on all of the biggest dangers to kids. It’s just what we do.
You see, keeping an eye on children who are swimming is trickier than it seems. Parents have a lot of their plates. With all of the distractions around, it is very easy to lose focus. Active supervision is critical for keeping kids out of danger.
What are the Top 4 Water Safety Mistakes Parents Need to Know?
Sadly, when it comes to water safety mistakes, many parents suffer from a false sense of security. Here are the top four water safety mistakes that some parents make. Any of these can easily land a child in the emergency room:
1. Watching Multiple Children
Be careful not to spread your attention too thin! Pools are especially dangerous when parents are trying to watch multiple children at once. After all, you only have one set of eyes. There are limits to any one person’s abilities. To combat this, try to add more watchers! In an ideal situation, you’d have one adult per child. For extra water safety, use approved life jackets and ‘touch supervision.’ This means always staying within arm’s reach of the swimming child.
2. Overestimating Your Child’s Ability to Swim
Don’t get too overconfident. Your child may be a good swimmer, but anyone can have an accident in the water. If a child breathes in water or panic when someone crashes into them in a crowded pool, they could still get into serious trouble quickly. This is another component of active supervision. Even though you may be standing near the pool, don’t forget to pay absolute attention to any children you are watching. In more than half of fatal drowning cases, a parent was close by or even supervising. As you can see, merely being present is often not enough. You must also be vigilant.
3. Failing to Assign a Water Watcher
This goes hand-in-hand with our first tip. Make sure mom, dad or other guardians are well aware of who is supposed to be on lifeguard duty. After all, any adult can get to talking poolside without realizing that a child is in trouble. Before anyone sets foot near a pool, discuss who is responsible for watching the swimmers. A good way to prevent fatigue is to rotate your “water watcher.” This way, you’ll always know that a responsible adult is in charge.
4. Oblivious to Surroundings
Every year, you hear about children who wander into a backyard, fall into a pool, and drown. Many of these fatal drownings occur in a neighbor’s pool or at a house where the child is visiting. Get a handle on where the pools are in your area so you can take steps to prevent your child from going near them alone.
Avoid Water Safety Mistakes
Swimming is a lot of fun, but as you’ve learned, it can be more dangerous than many of us realized. Leaving a child unattended around a pool can be extremely risky. As an added layer of security, consider adding a pool fence. Life Saver’s pool fences stop children from accessing the water. It’s a great way to avoid water safety mistakes.
