Happy Thursday! You wouldn’t have known it by the weather this week, but Memorial Day is right around the corner. So in light of the upcoming “Pool Opening” holiday, I wanted to talk about a very serious and important subject – Pool Safety!!
Important safety tips to help protect your family and friends:
- Always watch your children when they’re in or near a pool or spa. If multiple adults are present, designate one of them to watch the children for a designated amount of time and then rotate. This technique will prevent lapses in supervision.
- Teach children basic water safety tips and enroll them in swimming lessons.
- Keep children away from pool drains, pipes, and other openings as they can create underwater suction with enough force to trap even strong swimmers below the surface. Install anti-entrapment drain covers and safety release systems to protect against drain entrapment.
- Don’t rely on fun toys such as water wings or noodles to keep your children safe. If your child can’t swim, fit them with an appropriate personal floatation device (PFD).
- Know the signs of drowning as these symptoms are not easy to spot.
- Have these items close by at all times when you or your family are using a pool or spa: portable telephone, first aid kit, flotation device, and a pair of scissors to cut hair, clothing, or a pool cover if needed.
- If a child is missing, look for him or her in the pool or spa first.
- Share safety instructions with family, friends, and neighbors.
- Learn how to swim and teach your child how to swim.
- Learn to perform CPR on children and adults, and update those skills regularly.
- Install a five-foot or taller fence around the pool and use self-closing and self-latching gates; ask your neighbors to do the same at their pools.
- Install and use a lockable safety cover on your spa.
- If your house serves as a fourth side of a fence around a pool, install door alarms and always use them. For added protection, install window guards on windows facing pools or spas.
- Install pool and gate alarms to alert you when children go near the water.
- Make sure any pool and spa you use has compliant drain covers; ask your pool service provider if you don’t know.
- Keep your pool or spa cover is in good shape. If you notice defects have them repaired if possible or buy a new one.
Also consider taking a 2-hour online Home Pool Essentials course that was created in partnership with the Red Cross.
Have a fun – and safe – summer!
Credit: Personal Lines underwriter Theresa Meyer.