CHILD DROWNS
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments
CHILD DROWNS: A 5 year old drowns in his parent’s unsupervised pool. This does not have to happen – if only we had purchased a pool alarm we may have saved our child, cry the parents.
About 300 children under 5 years old drown yearly in residential swimming pools. The U.S.Consumer Product Safety Commission states that 51,835 deaths are attributed to swimming pools. This commission estimates hospital emergency room treatment is required for another 2,300 children under 5 were submerged in residential pools.
Swimming pool drowning of children has other particularly insidious features: these are silent deaths. It is unlikely that splashing or screaming will occur to alert a parent or caregiver that a child is in trouble. A toddler drowned in June in Anderson, Ind. didn’t wake up those sleeping near the pool, because the child didn’t make any sound.
You don’t really need these statistics to convince you to do everything you can to prevent this from happening to your child or grandchildren.
A few prevention tips
• Never leave a child unsupervised near a pool. During social gatherings at or near a pool, appoint a “designated watcher” to protect young children from pool accidents. Adults may take turns being the “watch’. Otherwise, adults may become pre-occupied and assume someone else is watching the children.
• Do not allow a young child in the pool without an adult.
• Never prop open the gate to the pool.
• Stay out of the pool during rain, thunder, and lightning storms.
• Don’t let long hair get near a pool outlet. The suction can cause hair or body entrapment and drowning.
• Install a Pool Alarm Protector – this protector is an electronic monitoring system that automatically sounds an alarm when children or pets fall into your unsupervised pool. It is portable, self-contained and light weight The unit is simple to operate, entry into the pool will be detected by the Pool Protector’s electronic sensor, triggering a loud pulsating alarm at the unit and inside your home from the remote receiver.
Rated as one of the “Best Pool Alarms” by Good Housekeeping Magazine – Certified to ASTM F2208-08 and a 3 year manufacturer warranty. For about $159.00 (discounted price) you just might save an injury, or even death from accidental drowning in an unsupervised pool.