Phoenix Fire captain reviews water safety rules ahead of Memorial Day weekend

While pool parties in the Valley are good fun over Memorial Day weekend, it’s critical to remember water safety.

Even though Arizona has not seen any pediatric deaths in water this year, Phoenix Fire Captain D.J. Lee said water safety can never be taken lightly. Drowning was the No. 1 killer last year of children ages 1-4 in Arizona.

“The number one thing we like to talk about is close and constant supervision,” Lee said Thursday on KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News. “Whenever you’re near any type of water, whether it’s a pool, a bathtub, it only takes a couple inches of water. Anytime you’re around water and you have a young one that can’t swim or can’t really do things on their own, the best thing to do is have close and constant supervision, within an arm reach with them.”

Especially at family or friend gatherings, Lee said you need to designate someone to watch children by water, not just hope someone is keeping a close eye.

A few other tips to adhere to are making sure children, or adults for that matter, wear bright-colored swimwear and installing a pool fence to protect loved ones.

“They’ve done studies showing the differences of dark swimming suits to brightly colored like neon color swimming suits,” Lee said. “The darker ones tend to disappear when underwater and the bright ones really show through. So, having those is also another thing you can have for safety.”

Lee also advised adults to celebrate the holiday responsibly, especially when alcohol consumption is concerned. This will ensure you can act quickly if someone does need rescue, as you will need to be physically and mentally able to get a loved one out of the water and call 911.

KTAR News and Fulton Homes want to remind you that two seconds is too long to take your eyes off kids near water. To learn more about this campaign, visit the 2 Seconds is Too Long website.

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