Swimming pool isn’t intended for bathing, it is used for physical activities and entertainment. Summer often motivates people to replace or substitute their running exercises with swimming. Swimming is an exciting activity and it is not limited to any specific age. However, we need to consider pool safety and children younger than 14 are more vulnerable that older teenagers and adults. Accidents often happen in any swimming pool and we should be able to prevent them by having enough control and applying proper safety measures, Accidents can be limited and drowning can be prevented.
If we plan to go the swimming pool often, we need to obtain the basic water rescue training, such as CPR and first aid. We should also assess the swimming skill of each family member, so smaller children with limited swimming skills can be monitored and assisted more. We should also choose swimming pools that have designated first aid equipments and facility, staffed by adequate medical staff. The pool should also have a directly usable phone that can be used to call 911 or other emergency services. We need to read pool rules and enforce them consistently. It means that both adults and children should know what they do and obey in swimming pools.
Small children and people with limited swimming skills should be supervised more. We need to keep a constant eye on them and those who can assist should be near children at all times. When we go to the swimming pools, we should study their layout and find information about depth in different locations. So, children won’t accidentally go to areas deeper than their own chin, because determining depth from outside the pool can be quite difficult. Proficient swimmers should also be careful and dive into the pool near the diving board or on the diving board itself. This will ensure that the pool is deep enough for fast diving.
It may not be a good idea to swim alone in a deserted pool, because accidents could happen, even if we are proficient swimmers. We also should walk around the pool area, because the area is often wet and slips could happen quite easily when we are not careful. When swimming we shouldn’t have food in mouth or chew gum, because choking is more likely to happen during swimming. It is also important to make sure that the swimming pool has watchers that can immediately provide assistance when something bad occurs. Life vests should be available near the pool, so these watchers could help distressed people immediately.
Swimming pool is even more important when we have pool in our house. As an example, it is a good idea investing in fences around the pool if there are toddlers in the house who can’t swim. If possible, the pool should have a single designated access from the house. There are also alarms that will be activated when someone enters the pool. These safety measures should help us to further improve safety in pools.
