Drowning prevention- 3 legs of a proverbial stool.

[Kevin Tucker]

For many reasons, I began again to look at drowning prevention to attempt to find a rational, logical plan that addresses many concerns and fits with my experience. As I began discsussing this issue, I was reminded that when my mother was in college, she was required to pass a beginning swimming class before graduation. I mentioned this to my wife. Her mother also was required to pass a basic swimming class- and it was a major task to accomplish. This reminded me of the emphasis on swimming as a life skill that is no longer as evident. -"we all know that Swimming is good exercise", but swimming and water safety skills are also a life skill that is losing emphasis- we see more cities building water parks- but not pools to teach those same kids to swim. In fact, we see those pools closed due to VGB and other requirements. I think that water parks are great- but we can't lose sight of the importance of swimming and water safety.

We were all appalled at the drownings of six teens in Shreveport in August of 2010- but it is even more tragic because there were about 20 others including adults on the bank that could not swim AND did not know what to do to help those in the river. Teaching basic water safety and swimming is a true life skill that should be a part of every person's education.

I just thought that I would share my thoughts about drowning prevention programs
as I have been working through this issue. I have evolved this strategy-

As I see it, there are many facets of drowning prevention, although too often from a legislative perspective I typically only see one reaction- and from my perspective it is almost useless. 

 

Leg 1- Home Essentials- an online program developed by NSPF and the American Red Cross- 

 I see the advantages of introducing a program like Home Essentials to homeowners for a variety of reasons- For existing pool owners the most basic understanding of pool operation is a good thing, plus as I understand this program, it promotes layers of protection, adult supervision and swimming lessons. This alone is good, but it also may create awareness of things like pool alarms or automatic covers that the existing homeowner may not be aware of. Too many current and proposed regulations require alarms or fences that are removed as soon as the inspection is done. Instead, we need to educate the homeowner about the benefits of layers of protection- as appropriate for their unique situation. The homeowners must make the commitment to safety- and maintaining the safety features around their pool.

www.NSPF.org and www.homepoolessentials.org

 

Leg 2- Josh the Otter and the Float4Life Program- This program promotes water safety and basic survival skills specifically for the child less than 4 years old. As I understand it, CPSC and other organizations have been focused primarily on this age group with their concern for backyard pool drownings. There are many different instructional programs for water safety and survival and floating skills for children between 6 months and 6 years.  The Josh Collingsworth Memorial Foundation is focused on this issue, since Josh drown in the family’s backyard pool that had an Automatic Pool Cover, etc- including cameras that could view the pool area from any TV in the house. I firmly believe that programs like these will have a greater potential impact than any fence. It teaches a life skill- and just as importantly, it focuses the parent on water safety for their young child or grandchild- around the pool and other sources of water.

www.joshtheotter.org 
and www.float4life.org 

Leg 3-  Swimming and Water Safety for older children- and even adults. I am thinking that the best way to promote this concept will be to work with the US Swimming Foundation and the Make a  Splash! Program.  I think that this may be the best way to focus on this issue- since I believe they will work with the American Red Cross, the YMCA, Starfish Aquatics, etc. The support of promotional materials and Olympic swimers can be great support for scholarships and swimming programs for kids that are more likely to drown in so many different water sources.

www.makeasplash.org  and http://swimfoundation.org/

 

I understand many areas offer local programs- any of those are great- the point is to move in the same direction. I found these programs that I believe offer information, programs and materials to promote these concepts from a broad national perspective.

It takes many individual drops to create a wave....

Now we just need to do something- well, my next step personally is to swim the Cap 2K openwater swim to raise scholarship funds for swimming lessons in Austin. I have received commitments from some Swimming pool service companies in Austin (members of IPSSA) to support this effort.- This is my first step-what will you do? Please share your ideas...