With summer around the corner, it’s time to make sure pools are safe
Apr 23, 2018, 4:10 AM
(AP Photo)
(AP Photo)
PHOENIX — It’s almost summer and with the warmer weather heading to the Valley, it’s time to make sure your home is as drowning-proof as possible.
“I think the biggest misconception is that ‘It can’t happen to me,'” Tracey Fejt, a Cardon Children’s Hospital nurse, said. “It doesn’t matter where you live or what you do. It can happen to anyone.”
Fejt, a Trauma Injury Prevention coordinator, said there are three components to making children (and adults) safe around water. One is adult supervision at all times. “The … misconception is that you’re going to hear your kids drown…you’re not,” she said. “You need to remember: Drowning is silent. That’s why it’s so important to have that eye-to-eye supervision.”
The second is barriers – around one’s pool or other water sources. Fejt said check those out at other homes your children may go to or be in.
The third is knowing CPR. If a child falls into a pool, Fejt said, “You want to get them out as soon as possible…and you have to start compressions and breathing.”
Children’s Safety Zone, a Valley nonprofit drowning-prevention group, said so far in 2018, five childen under the age of five years old have died from drownings in Maricopa and Pinal counties. The group said in 2017, 14 people died from drowning. Six of those were children.
