Water Prevention and Safety
May is well-known for being Water Safety and Drowning Prevention Month for this reason. Once the warm, summer weather takes over, people start opening their pools, taking trips to the lake, enjoying the beach and spending a lot of extra time taking in any number of water-related activities. While there is nothing wrong with being able to enjoy the water and cooling down after a long day outside, you have to make sure that you exercise caution and prevent any unnecessary injuries from happening. There are a number of different types of injuries that can happen if you are not careful on the water.
Drowning is a Major Cause of Death in Children
Drowning is the second leading cause of death in the US for children under the age of four. The worst part about it all is that their deaths could have been prevented had the parents exercised precaution and made sure that the children were monitored at all times. Water-related accidents are one of the main risk factors associated with injuries and deaths. Some of the various forms of injury include
- Severe damage to the spinal cord
- Neurological damages stemming from a loss of oxygen to the brain for all of the time the individual spent underwater
Children who are underwater for two minutes will end up losing consciousness. Once six minutes have passed, the brain damage that occurs cannot be reversed. When you think about it, two to six minutes is not very long at all. It only takes a minute to turn your back on a child and find them in a body of water. Because of this, you need to make sure that someone is constantly watching a child whenever they are near any form of water. Even a couple of inches of water is enough to drown a child.
Water Can Turn Deadly
As much fun as water is, it can also turn deadly in mere minutes. While water tends to be one of the main staples for people who are looking for something enjoyable to do during the hot summer, it can turn deadly quickly. However, it does not have to be as dangerous as what it is. There are things that you can do that are going to make things safer for anyone who wants to enjoy water activities.
Simple Safety Tips Around Water
There are a number of things that you can do to prevent a slip and fall injury and keep your children safe around the water, such as:
- Install safety gates around your pool. Make sure the gates have an alarm system or lock on them to prevent children from being able to get inside undetected.
- Never leave children unattended when there is any type of water nearby.
- Make sure children have some form of life jacket on whenever they are in the water.
- Teach children how to swim at an early age.
- Make sure you know how deep the water is before jumping in.
- Find out about currents or tides before you attempt to swim in a large body of water.
All Water Carries a Risk
Regardless of whether you are going to swim in a small pool or a large ocean, there are risks associated with every type of water out there. Whenever you make the decision to dive into water, you are opening yourself to the risk of being injured. The number of people who sustain spinal cord injuries during the summer increases because of all the people who are diving into shallow water.
Even though many of the swimming pools have their overall depth listed on them somewhere, oceans, lakes and other large bodies of water do not. Because of this, you cannot guarantee that the water is going to be deep enough for you to dive in safely. What you might think is 10 feet deep might only be three or four. Diving into water that is far too shallow could end up causing you to suffer from any number of different injuries along the way.
To prevent being injured, you need to exercise caution before jumping into an area that you are not 100 percent certain as to how deep the water is. Always make sure to keep an eye on your children to prevent them from accidentally going into the water without an adult being there to help them out along the way. You do not want to ever assume anything is safe unless you know for sure it is. Take ample time to go through and inspect everything clearly before you ever jump in. Ask about currents and tides before hopping into a body of water that you are not familiar with.
Education is Key
Spend time teaching your children to swim and enrolling them in a safety education class at an early age. By teaching your children the importance of swim safety, you can minimize the chance of injuries from occurring. If you or someone you know was injured due to no fault of your own, you can contact a lawyer near you to find out about your rights. While some injuries can be prevented, negligence on the part of a pool owner falls under the category of premises liability meaning the owner of the pool is held liable for the safery and security of the individuals on the property. Find out more by contacting an attorney near you.