Monday, January 25, 2010

Tips For Pool Safety

By Pierre Levingston

The safety of your children should be a priority. If you own a swimming pool, it can be a very dangerous place for younger children to be around. Here are some security tips in regards to pool safety.

Never leave children alone. Accidents can happen quickly. Having an adult there to supervise children at all times is the biggest prevention against drowning.

Know CPR. CPR is the best skill you can have if a child does have an accident in the swimming pool. Learning CPR is a useful skill, especially with drownings.

Install a pool fence. This is meant to separate your pool from the rest of your yard and home. Most young children who drown in pools aren't swimming, but accidentally fall in to the pool when they wander around the yard.

The pool fence needs to be tall enough that younger children can't climb over it or sneak through. A good height for a pool fence is 4 feet high, and should be placed along all the sides of the pool. The latch on the entrance gate should be placed high enough that younger children can't reach it.

Don't have your children use air-filled swimming cuffs or toys instead of using a life vest. Have your children use approved life vests for their safety. Toys and cuffs are not good substitutes for safety life vests.

Running on wet cement should be avoided. Children often slip and hurt themselves. Supervise your children and be sure that they walk carefully to lessen the chance of them slipping and hurting themselves.

When the pool is not in use, lock the pool gate. You can purchase power safety covers that may add to the safety of your children, and make the pool look less appealing. However, covers should never take the place of a pool gate.

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