Be a “Water Watcher”
A Water Watcher is a responsible adult who wears the “Water Watcher” tag and keeps constant visual contact with the pool, spa, or jacuzzi. The Water Watcher provides 100% supervision of children’s water activities.
- Adults should learn CPR.
- Keep toys out of the pool area when not being used.
- Keep direct eye contact with children in the water and use a “Water Watcher” at all times.
- Have a phone readily available at all times.
- Keep pool chemicals stored in a locked container or area.
Home Drowning Prevention
- Always stay within an arm’s reach of your child when he or she is in or near bathtubs, toilets, pools, spas or buckets. Never leave your child alone or in the care of older children during bath time.
- Immediately drain the bathtub once bath time is over.
- Empty all buckets, containers and wading pools immediately after use. Store them upside down and out of children’s reach.
- Keep toilet lids closed and use toilet seat locks.
- Never leave your child unattended in a tub or around any other body of water, even if he or she knows how to swim.
- Keep doors to bathrooms and laundry rooms closed.
- Children in baby bath seats and rings must be watched at all times.
Drowning Facts
- Each year, more than 830 children ages 14 and under die as a result of unintentional drowning.
- Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional death among children ages 1-4 years and children ages 10-14 years. For infants (<1 year of age), drowning is the third leading cause of death.
- Swimming pools at home are the most common site for a drowning to occur for children ages 1-4 years.
- In the summer, between May and August, drowning deaths among children increase 89% over the rest of the year.
- The majority of infant drowning deaths happen in bathtubs, buckets or toilets.
- Recreational boating accidents caused 11 drowning deaths in 2004; more than half of the children were not wearing personal floatation devices or life jackets.
- Male children are twice as likely to have a drowning than female children.
- Four-sided isolation fencing around home swimming pools could prevent 50-90% of childhood drownings and near-drownings. When used properly, door alarms, pool alarms and automatics pool covers add an extra layer of protection.
