Water Safety for Children

Swimming is one of the main children’s entertainments. In summer, parents try to take almost all children to the sea, to the river, to a lake or pond, in winter – to a water park or swimming pool. Preparing for the bathing and swimming season is the perfect time to take your kids to the pool, go swimming, teach your child aquatics, or improve your swimming skills! But not only children need to prepare for a visit to a pool but also parents should be able to ensure the safety of children while swimming in any water.

Unfortunately, open water drowning is the third most common cause of unintentional death in the world.

Children aged 1 to 4 and 5 to 9 years of age are at the greatest risk of drowning.

What constitutes the safety of a child on the water?

BCSSSD identifies three main components of child safety on the water:

1. The child’s ability to swim (water competence);
2. Compliance with the rules for the prevention of drowning by parents and children;
3. Parents’ proficiency in rescue and emergency care in emergency situations.

What does water competence mean for a child?

A child independently entering the water of an artificial or natural reservoir must be able to cope with a sudden emergency.

The child should be able to:

• safely immerse in water with his/her head (hold the breath, prevent water from entering the respiratory tract);
• be able to swim to the surface;
• be able to stay on the surface for a long time (swim on the stomach and back) for at least 1 minute;
• be able to keep his/her face above the water;
• be able to swim back to the point of entry into the water (10-15 meters minimum);
• be able to get out of the water without the use of aids.

Until children are able to perform these techniques, they should continue to do aquatic exercises and take training lessons before their level of water competence reaches the required level. Only then parents can allow their children to swim on their own under adult supervision.

Burlington County Special Services notes that these skills do not necessarily carry over from one aquatic environment to another. What a child can do in calm water in a pool is different from what happens to him or her when swimming in the ocean. When a child first enters the sea beach, it is necessary to teach him or her to perform all the elements of water competence in the conditions of sea waves, surf, currents and ebb tides.

Basic rules for preventing drowning

1. Constant visual control of the child in the water. If you are on the banks of a river or lake, do not be distracted by “rest” while watching the bathing child;
2. An adult should always be at such a distance that, if necessary, be able to instantly be near the child (50% of all drowned children were at a distance of up to 25 meters from adults). Children under 5 years old should be in the water at arm’s length from their parents. Remember! If the child is unattended, then floating toys (circles, arm ruffles) create a feeling of false safety of the child on the water!
3. Try to swim and rest only in areas with professional lifeguards. You can swim only in places where there are no hidden or obvious hazards (flooded objects, eddies, cold currents, fishing nets, water vehicles, dangerous marine animals, dangerous people);
4. Use only certified lifejackets to keep a small child buoyant in the water, not toys such as rubber rings or armbands;
5. To prevent seizures, do not feed children for one hour before bathing. Also, this rule will help prevent the sudden development of food allergies;
6. Do not chew gum while swimming! – this increases the risk of suffocation;
7. Strictly forbid children to “drown” each other in the game or to imitate “drowning”;
8. Do not leave children’s toys in the water – they can attract your or someone else’s child;
9. Forbid the child to swim during a storm or in the waves of the surf.

Remember! If the child is unattended, then floating toys (circles, arm ruffles) create a feeling of false safety of the child on the water!

The third element of safety on the water is the ability to provide help if something goes wrong. Parents should understand that minutes count in an emergency. Parents should be able to swim, transport their child to shore, and begin CPR before rescuers or medical personnel arrive.

The third element of safety on the water is the ability to provide help if something goes wrong. Parents should understand that minutes count in an emergency. Parents should be able to swim, transport their child to shore, and begin CPR before rescuers or medical personnel arrive.

Signs that the child is drowning!

Adults need to know the critical signs of impending drowning in a child. Please note that these are very different from what you would normally expect! An accident usually happens in just 20-60 seconds.

• The child in most cases will not cry for help: he or she simply will not have time or will not understand;
• The child will not wave his/her hands to call for help: the hands are instinctively used by the child only to scoop up to capture a breath of air with his/her mouth;
• The baby’s head is immersed in the water with the mouth, then jerkily rises above the water and then drops back down;
• Children will not reach out to the rescuer or grab the rescue equipment;
• The child is upright in the water and does not row with his/her hands;
• If the child does not make noise and does not play in the water: if he/she is quiet, something is wrong!

Teaching the child to swim and safety on the water, understanding their responsibility for the life of the child and acquiring the basic skills to save drowning people is the responsibility of every parent.