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Swimming Pool Safety Tips

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By Rachel Derry
Staff Writer LIFamilies

Swimming pools are a big part of children’s summer fun. They allow for play and exercise while cooling off from the summer’s scorching temperatures. Although they provide hours of entertainment, pools are not an accessory to take lightly.

As an adult, you are not only responsible for the safety of children in your care, but also the uninvited children who may find their way into your back yard. Too often safety precautions are not followed and safety procedures are not implemented. These oversights lead to an average of 260 drowning deaths of children under the age of five a summer. By following a few safety tips, you will know that your yard is as pool safe as possible.

1. Install a fence at least four feet tall with a gate either around your pool or around your yard. Have the gate be self closing and self latching from the inside, and it must swing out of the yard/pool area.

2. If the fence is around your yard, all doors leading out to the pool should be securely locked and closed at all times. Some town codes even require door alarms for the doors that access the pool. If the door is opened an alarm will sound, which can be silenced for normal usage.

3. Have a surface wave alarm. It will sound if the pool is entered with the alarm still in.

4. Spas should have locking covers, and remain covered when not in use.

5. For above ground pools, remove the ladder when not in use.

6. Small children should never be left alone anywhere near the pool area. Even if children are able to swim, they should always be supervised.

7. Advise babysitters and caregivers that children are not allowed around the pool without them. If the caregivers are not able to swim, the pool area should be avoided altogether.

8. Toys should be kept away from the pool area. If they fall in, children may attempt to retrieve them.

9. Keep lawn furniture away from the pool fence and gate so that children can not climb over it.

10. Do not trust a floatation device to act as a guard for a child. Stay with them at all times.

11. Never use a pool with its cover partially on.

12. Keep a phone poolside at all times for emergencies or answering calls. That way you never need to search for one, leaving the pool area.

13. Teach children about the dangers of playing around and using the pool, especially alone.

14. Have children stay away from pool drains and pipes, which may cause entrapment.

15. Enroll your children, as well was yourself, in swimming lessons.

16. Learn CPR for both adults and children.

17.Keep rescue equipment near the pool.

Long Island Safety Articles > Swimming Pool Safety Tips

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