The ABC’s of Protection

Hello and happy July Floaties Family! Summer season is officially here and I’m so excited to see both new and current families joining us for the ride. The hot sunny days make the pool feel that much more rewarding to be in. Last month we acknowledged National Drowning Prevention Awareness, where we spent extra time focusing on safety skills and exercises that your child can perform both here at Floaties, as well as in any other body of water. And if you attended our annual safety clinic, you got to see all these activities put into action. This month, we will be taking a dive into Cultivating Independence Without Sacrificing Safety (the Importance of Water Watching and safety). I’m going to be taking us through several safety topics such as proper water watching, layers of safety, and the ABC’s of protection. Now, what exactly is water watching? By definition it is a responsible adult who agrees to watch the kids in and around the water without distractions. It can take as little as twenty seconds of checking Tiktok for a child to drown. And approximately 75% of all child drownings occur due to a lapse of adult supervision. This is why it’s so important to take water watching seriously and to always keep your head on a swivel. Here at Floaties, you may have seen our instructors working some water watching shifts from time to time. An extra set of eyes is always helpful and highly encouraged when young swimmers are present.  

The ABC’s of protection are the top safety points to keep in mind when you’re around a pool. Now don’t worry, the list doesn’t actually go A-Z, but it is in an alphabet-like list for easy remembrance. 

A = Adult supervision 

Never leave your child unattended in or around water for any reason. 

B = Barriers 

Barriers such as pool fencing, pool alarms, door/gate alarms, etc. are amazing additions to keep your child from being able to access bodies of water unattended. A barrier fence separating a pool from the home reduces a child’s risk of drowning by as much 83%. 

C = Classes 

Enroll your child in swim lessons that focus on safety as well as stroke development (a.k.a. Floaties!). Adults and parents should take water safety classes as well as infant/child/adult CPR. After completing CPR classes, it’s equally important to stay up to date with the latest CPR techniques. Results of lifesaving skills are constantly studied to save more lives and changes can be made at any time. 

D = Drains 

Have regular conversations with your child about pool and spa safety. Teach them to stay away from pool and spa drains. 

F = Floatation 

If your child is a non-swimmer, ONLY use U.S. Coast Guard approved life jackets and always wear them when boating. 

Now let’s float into the layers of safety that incorporate both safety and independence for your child. At Floaties, we include several exercises and activities that challenge each kid while building their confidence, independence, and overall safety awareness. The continuous practice of safety circles, swim-float-swims, back floats, front floats, crab walks, climb-outs, and jumps are incredible ways to familiarize your child with areas of the pool, how to safely enter/exit, and how to properly guide themselves to the right destination while swimming. 

Other in-depth exercises incorporated in the layers of safety topic are ones that we demonstrated at our Annual Safety Clinic last month. Learning how to help pull someone out of the pool, how to float and tread water with everyday clothes on and practicing proper transitions from swimming to floating were incredible, realistic exercises that help educate kids on how to stay safe in and around any body of water as well as how to keep others safe. 

As always, I hope this month’s topic was helpful and gave insight into making you and your child’s swimming experiences as safe and fun as possible. It’s both an honor and a privilege to be able to have these monthly discussions with you all and I hope you join me next month in discussing Different Types of Floaties, Lifejackets vs. Water Wings and their Advantages/Disadvantages.