CPR and Accident Prevention Procedures
Your Last Line of Defense
It is definitely recommended for you to take the time to learn CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) and accident procedures. If not your own child, you may be able to save someone else's. Many local hospitals have programs for this type of training.
Do not leave a toddler in the pool area without adult supervision. Older children are not always sensitive to the dangers of drowning when it applies to others. A mother told us that she was scolding an older brother (6 years old), as she snatched her coughing 18 month old out of the pool where he had walked off the steps while she was away for a moment. His answer was innocent "But I could see his eyes were open and he wasn't crying." Hope the point has been made.
Never go into the house to answer the telephone and leave a child unattended in the pool area. If you are waiting for a telephone call, have a portable phone with you. Numerous drownings are associated with the answering of the telephone in the house while the pool was in use by the children. A telephone installed at the pool area or having a portable phone can prove to be an invaluable aid in the event of an accident.
Just as you should on the inside of the house, near your outside phone or near the pool there should be a list of emergency contact numbers. This list should include police, fire department, and even poison control. Although pool chemicals should be locked up away from the pool, it can easily be forgotten when you are done treating the pool to lock these toxic chemicals back up.
Don't leave objects in the pool which could attract your child. Even children who would not normally go near a pool because of fear may not even think about the water if they are in pursuit of a favorite toy in the pool.
"Staging Platforms", such as tables and chairs, should not be kept near the pool fence.
Allowing the pool area to be used as a play area is as bad as letting young children play in a busy street or with poisonous chemicals. Isolating the pool area to be used for swimming only is the most essential concept of drowning prevention.
If you miss your child always check the pool first – even if access is thought to be restricted – then look elsewhere.
In a drowning accident, seconds can make the difference between death, recovery, or just survival.
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