WHAT
IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SAFETY FEATURE OF MY POOL?
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.
