The
single most important safety feature for swimming
pools is competent, vigilant supervision. Without
it you’re placing the lives of your family and
guests in the hands of equipment and gadgets. Most
pool accidents occur when adults are not present.
Maybe they were sidetracked (even for an instant)
or perhaps they thought that their pool had enough
safety equipment built in. Unfortunately we sometimes
learn too late that there is NO SUBSTITUTE
FOR SUPERVISION!
Children
look for opportunities to spread their wings and
“escape” the confines of parent’s
watchful eye. They have little concept of danger
and will attempt on their own what they’ve
seen older siblings or parents do; like jumping
in the pool or spa. All parents know this and most
take steps to protect their kids from pool dangers.
They teach them to swim, put up fences and alarms,
repeatedly tell them to stay away from the pool
area, and the list goes on. By a large measure,
most of us are successful in protecting our kids
from pool injuries. Only a small percentage of children
who live in a house with a swimming pool are injured
or drowned in it. And an even smaller number of
children visiting houses with swimming pools are
injured or drowned while visiting.
However,
even 1 child drowning in a backyard swimming pool
is too many. The reasons are all too familiar to
us all. We’ve heard them a hundred times on
the news. “I turned away for only a second
to answer the phone…”, or “I thought
the door was locked….”, or even “I
thought she was asleep. She must have crawled out
of her crib….”. The fact is that kids
can get away from you if you’re not constantly
vigilant where your pool is concerned.
BE AWARE AT ALL TIMES!!
Use
safety devices such as alarms, gates and fences,
covers, etc. as backup devices. At most, expect
them to give you a few extra seconds of reaction
time. Don’t expect them to save the life of
your child. That’s your job.
