Having Safe Fun in the Sun with Your Kids
by Alison Rhodes

Along with securing your pool, it's important to remember these safety rules:

• Make sure babysitters or anyone else watching your children know about the safety devices for your pool and that you expect them to keep your child in sight at all times.



• Keep a portable phone at the pool with you and have all emergency numbers on hand.



• Take a CPR course or take a refresher course.



• If a child is missing immediately check the pool. Seconds could make the difference between life and death.



• Do not assume that because your child has had swim lessons, he could not drown.



• If you are having a party, designate a second person to watch your child while you might be tending to guests.



• Never leave toys, that might be enticing to a child, near a pool.

Pool safety is also something to consider when visiting friends or relatives. We are all taught to be polite, but your child's safety is much more important than being diplomatic. If you are visiting someone who does not have a fence around their pool with a self-closing and self-latching gate, consider very carefully if you feel this is a safe environment for your child to be in. I know, I know, you never take your eyes off your children, but statistics don't lie. Seventy-seven percent of the victims had been missing from sight for five minutes or less, the time it takes to answer a phone or run after another child. Don't let your child become a statistic.

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