(WBAP/KLIF) – Texas leads the nation with the most child drowning’s in 2018 with 28 deadly accidents so far, eight of which occurred in July. Nikki Fleming with the Pool Safety Campaign urges parents to watch their children whenever they’re near or in the water and to follow the pool safety steps to prevent more drownings as temperatures rise and families spend more time in the water.
“It is important to watch all children even children who know how to swim to be honest in case a child were to get a leg cramp or have another emergency situation. Again supervising children is super important,” said Fleming.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s Pool Safely Campaign is urging families to follow these other steps to stay safer when spending time near or in water.
– Designate a Water Watcher to supervise children in the pool or spa. This person should not be reading, using a smart phone or be otherwise distracted.
– Learn how to swim, and teach your child how to swim.
– Learn how to perform CPR on children and adults.
– Keep children away from pool drains, pipes and other openings to avoid entrapments.
– Ensure any pool and spa you use has drain covers that comply with federal safety standards, and if you do not know, ask your pool service provider about safe drain covers and ask your public pool if their drains are “VGB compliant.”
For more information or to take the Pool Safely Pledge go to www.poolsafely.gov.
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