We’re very concerned with water safety. For this reason, we’re sad to report that more kids have drowned in swimming pools this year. It’s true, a
new report from the
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) points to a need for greater attention to drowning prevention. As we’ve said many times, drowning remains the leading cause of unintentional death for children between the ages of one and four.
Report Shows Increase in Drownings
According to the new numbers from the CPSC, at least 150 children under the age of 15 fatally drowned in pools and spas during 2018. That marks an increase over last summer’s numbers. On average, it is estimated that there were 6,600 nonfatal pool-or-spa related injuries of children under the age of 15 that were treated in hospital emergency department visits each year from 2016 through 2018. This information stems from media reports that were collected and
compiled by the USA Swimming Foundation. What’s more, June marked itself as the most dangerous month with the highest fatality incident rate.
Deeper Dive: Exploring the Drowning Numbers
Taking a closer look, the CPSC aims to protect the public from the unreasonable risk of injury or death associated with thousands of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. By analyzing these statistics, they hope to plug up potential blind spots to safety that may be causing consumers harm.
Through the report, we can see that Texas had the highest rate of fatal child drownings, with 26 total. This marks an increase over last year, which showed 21 total. Coming in second, Ohio reported 11 incidents. Unfortunately, this was a record-high number of drownings for the state.
To put a finer point on this topic, several other states also had rankings that were quite high. These include California, with 10 drownings; Pennsylvania, which had eight; and Arizona and Georgia, with seven fatal child drownings each.
Pool and Water Safety Tips
So what is a parent to do in a situation like this? Well, as always, we recommend education. After all, when you understand the danger, you will be better equipped to handle the potential consequences. Additionally, it’s important for anyone who owns a pool to invest in layers of protection. To this end, here are some tips that we recommend for concerned parents:
Teach Children to Swim
Swimming lessons are always in season. We recommend bringing your children for professional lessons. You could also take a swimming course yourself. After all, it’s never too late to learn!
Install a Pool Fence
A
pool fence is a wonderful source of safety for any pool area. Your pool fence should be sturdy and feature a self-closing, self-latching gate.
Active Supervision
Perhaps the most important safety rule is to keep an eye on your kids. A responsible adult should be vigilantly watching the children at all times. After all, it is far too easy these days to become distracted by our phones and entertainment. Instead, be sure that someone is always there to keep a close eye.
Learn CPR
Finally, it never hurts to
learn CPR. This safety skill can protect many a life in the water. It is imperative for any adult that may be supervising kids in the pool to know how to perform CPR in case a swimmer is in trouble. No matter how old you are, learning CPR can help to keep those drowning rates down.
