"Soak up the Sun" in Chattanooga - Pool Safety First

By David Israel, Business Manager

As you listen to and follow Cheryl Crowe's advice, "Soak up the Sun", don't forget to pay attention to the kids in the Pool.  Today there are more pool accidents than ever before.  In Chattanooga, not every home has a pool like where I grew up in Florida, but there are many private and community pools.  There is no better way to spend the summer than by the pool and safety must be the highest priority.

I recently read an article on Pool Fence.com that talked about safety and gave some pretty scary statistics, so I thought I would take the time to share them with you since I love spending time in the pool at my friend's home in Chattanooga.  Here is a study conducted by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission that investigated child drowning incidents.  It indicated that SUPERVISION CAN AND DOES FAIL.

The Commission's investigation was directed toward children under age five in Arizona, California, and Florida who had drown in home swimming pools. The results might help you to better understand why drowning is still the number one killer in these three states and stands at number two for the nation:

Who was in charge of supervision at the time of drowning?
69 percent of the accidents occurred while one or both parents were responsible for supervision; 10 percent were adults other than the parents; 14 percent were sitters;  7 percent were siblings.

What was the location of the pool drowning?
65 percent were in a pool owned by the child's family; 22 percent were at a relative's pool; 11 percent happened at a neighbor's pool.

"Drowning happens quickly and without warning. There is no cry for help."

77 percent of the children had been seen 5 minutes or less before being missed and subsequently discovered in the pool.

As you can tell, this type of accident happens quickly and the results are devastating to anyone it touches.  When you think pool, think hard core, you must be an absolute dictator, your children's lives depend on it.  Let your children know without any doubts, that is your way or none at all.