Swimming Pool Safety

More than 300 children under the age of five drown in residential swimming pools each year. Additionally, more than 2,000 children of the same age are treated in hospital emergency rooms for submersion injuries.

In most instances, pool submersions happen in familiar surroundings. Sixty-five percent of the incidents happen in a pool owned by the child's family. These submersions can happen very quickly. A child can drown in the time it takes to answer a phone.

Here are some tips for pool safety:

• Install a fence or other barrier, at least four feet high, such as a wall, completely around the pool. Make sure the gate is self-closing and self-latching, and that the latch is out of a child's reach.
• Never prop-open the gate to a pool barrier.
• If the house forms one side of the barrier, protect the doors leading from the house to the pool with alarms that produce an audible sound when the door is unexpectedly opened.
• Install a power safety cover as an alternative to door alarms.
• For above ground pools, steps and ladders leading from the ground to the pool should be secured and locked, or removed when the pool is not in use.
• Never leave a child unsupervised near a pool. Remind babysitters of the constant need for supervision.
• Do not use flotation devices as a substitute for supervision.
• Do not allow a young child in the pool without an adult.
• Do not consider young children to be drown-proof because they have had swimming lessons. Children must be watched closely while swimming.
• If a child is missing, check the pool first. Seconds count in preventing death or disability.
• Learn CPR and keep rescue equipment by the pool. Be sure there is a telephone by the pool with emergency numbers posted nearby.
• Remove toys from in and around the pool when it is not in use, so they do not attract children.