Summer Water Safety

Warm weather and kids out of school brings thoughts of Summer fun including pools. Safety is key!

Westlake Police Department recently shared these water safety tips.

Prevention is key and there are plenty of resources for parents to help prevent drowning in the future. The AAP has a great toolkit available with videos for parents as well as PSAs that you can download and send home with families! https://www.aap.org/en/news-room/campaigns-and-toolkits/drowning-prevention

** Provide constant adult supervision, even with lifeguards.

** Until a child demonstrates swimming competency, they need to have touch supervision. This means an adult is within reach AT ALL TIMES. This includes baby pools, bath tubs etc.

** US Coast Guard approved life jackets are considered the BEST flotation/safety devices. Families might feel strongly about others, including puddle jumpers.

** Start swim lessons ASAP once the child is over 12 months old. Infants don’t have the coordination or neck strength to hold their face out of the water until usually around 12 months. After that, swim lessons are fair game!

** AVOID WATER. Dump all buckets, pools, coolers with melted ice, trash cans with water, etc as soon as you can. Make sure pools, ponds, etc. have fences with gates and that all access areas to water are child-proofed.