The American Red Cross-Knoxville Area Chapter encourages
you and your family to read and use these tips to help
keep you safe in and around the water. For more information
on staying safe year-round, call your American Red Cross
at (865) 584-2999.
Home Pools
- Learn to swim. The best thing anyone can do to stay
safe in and around the water is to learn to swim--this
includes adults and children. The American Red Cross
has swimming courses for people of any age and swimming
ability. To enroll in a course to learn or improve your
ability to swim, contact your American Red
Cross chapter.
- Never leave a child unobserved around water. Your
eyes must be on the child at all times. Adult supervision
is recommended.
- Install a phone by the pool or keep a cordless phone
nearby so that you can call 9-1-1 in an emergency.
- Learn Red Cross CPR and insist that babysitters, grandparents,
and others who care for your child know CPR.
- Post CPR instructions and 9-1-1 or your local emergency
number in the pool area.
- Enclose the pool completely with a self-locking, self-closing
fence with vertical bars. Openings in the fence should
be no more than four inches wide. If the house is part
of the barrier, the doors leading from the house to
the pool should remain locked and be protected with
an alarm that produces sounds when the door is unexpectedly
opened.
- Never leave furniture near the fence that would enable
a child to climb over the fence.
- Always keep basic lifesaving equipment by the pool
and know how to use it. Pole, rope, and personal flotation
devices (PFDs) are recommended.
- Keep toys away from the pool when it is not in use.
Toys can attract young children into the pool.
- Pool covers should always be completely removed prior
to pool use.
- To learn more about home pool safety, you can purchase
the video It Only Takes a Minute from your local Red
Cross chapter.
- If a child is missing, check the pool first. Go to
the edge of the pool and scan the entire pool, bottom,
and surface, as well as the surrounding pool area.
Keeping Children
Safe In, On, and Around the Water
- Maintain constant supervision. Watch children around
any water environment (pool, stream, lake, tub, toilet,
bucket of water), no matter what skills your child has
acquired and no matter how shallow the water.
- Don't rely on substitutes. The use of flotation devices
and inflatable toys cannot replace parental supervision
. Such devices could suddenly shift position, lose air,
or slip out from underneath, leaving the child in a
dangerous situation.
- Enroll children in a water safety course or Learn
to Swim program. Your decision to provide your child
with an early aquatic experience is a gift that will
have infinite rewards. These courses encourage safe
practices. You can also purchase a Community Water Safety
manual at your American Red Cross .
- Parents should take a CPR course. Knowing these skills
can be important around the water and you will expand
your capabilities in providing care for your child.
You can contact your local Red Cross to enroll in a
CPR for Infants and Child course.
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