It’s water season in Northeast Ohio and the pools are open for business — whether it’s the local city pool or the one you have at home.
While swimming can be a great way for kids to stay active and cool off in the summer heat, it also comes with risks, especially for young children.
Heather Trnka, injury prevention manager at Akron Children’s Hospital, says drowning is the number one cause of death for kids under age 4 and the second-leading cause of death for children over 4.
“We talk about safety with our kids in all different ways —these are conversations we should be having with our kids about the water, too,” Trnka says. “Just a normal conversation that we have every swimming season.”
Trnka suggests parents talk to their kids about not going in the water alone (without Mom or Dad or another grown-up to watch you.) Have them ask permission to get in the pool and always have a buddy.
She notes this message applies to adults as well.
“Drowning doesn’t look like it does on TV,” she says. “It’s very quiet. It’s very quick. We should never allow your kids to swim alone, even as teenagers, even as grown ups. We have to make sure we are not distracted as adults, making sure we’re watching our kids the whole time they are in the water or someone else that you trust is watching the kids.”
Pools At-Home
In Ohio, this is the time of year, when parents might start considering purchasing a home pool.
“A lot of what we’re seeing now is what we call pop-up pools that don’t stay up year round and you set up each spring,” Trnka says. ”It’s more available for people to have deeper pools beyond baby ones in their backyard now.”
Drowning deaths are preventable, Trnka notes, and parents should take several steps to ensure the pool is safe.
She suggests it’s important to install barriers — self-closing or self-latching gates or fencing — around the pool.
“So if a child exits the back door, they wouldn’t have immediate access to the pool,” she says. “In those instances, you want to create additional barriers. So whether it’s a backdoor alarm or actual pool fences to just go around the pool to provide those layers of protection for kids.”
This isn’t just for pop-up pools, but also baby pools, too.
“We know that kids can drown, not just in pools, they can drown in buckets, baby pools and even toilets,” Trnka says. “We want to make sure the baby pools, buckets and other containers are emptied out immediately after use and stored upside down after use.”
She notes a lot of parents would be surprised to know that most children drown outside of swimming time.
“So you had fun in the pool, you’re doing a great job of supervising them. You weren’t distracted. You went inside for a snack and now you can’t find your child. We see more children die in this manner than typical swimming time. So if your child is missing, the first place you should be looking is the water.”
She also warned against filling the pool with too many toys, floats or pool noodles, which can block your view of your child.
City Pools
If you don’t have a pool at home, most often you head out to one in your community.
While many parents might think it’s comforting to have lifeguards on duty, Trnka says it’s impossible for a lifeguard to watch every child in the pool.
“That’s why it’s our responsibility as caregivers to make sure we are watching our kids and the lifeguards are backup,” she says.
As the humidity turns up, the pools get crowded, making it difficult to see your child.
She suggests avoiding traditional swimsuit colors of light or dark blue.
“If possible, make sure that they’re in really bright, visible colors — bright orange, yellow, green, etc.” Trnka says. “Those really bright colors can help a child be identified if submerged underwater, but also keep your eyes on your child too.”
She adds to be aware of your child’s swimming abilities as well as the abilities of others in the group.
“We are always jumping feet first and know how deep it is before we’re allowing our kids to jump in — to make sure it matches their swimming skills,” she says. Teaching your child how to float and how to exit a pool without the use of a ladder or stairs is also an important swim safety skill. “
“Swimming lessons are really important and can be started at any age,” Trnka says. “You’re never too old for swimming lessons.”
She adds the absolute key is to have distraction-free supervision and have a water watcher.
If your child is invited to a pool party, she suggests asking who will be supervising. If you feel uncomfortable during drop-off, consider staying and watching your child.
“Here in Ohio, it’s called the ‘100 Deadliest Days,’ from Memorial Day to Labor Day, is when we see a dramatic increase in all injuries,” she says. “And, unfortunately, it tends to stay the same year to year.”
