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SUPERVISION
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Water Watcher Badges? Have you seen
these? While “Water Watcher” might be alluring
alliteration for anxious adults protecting precious progeny, it is
not descriptive enough of the job at hand.
There is an important distinction. Many children die
right in front of adults, and even lifeguards watching the “water.”
Watch the children, connect with each child in your
care. You don’t watch
children in the water the same way you watch them on the playground.
Learn below how to F.A.C.E. your children.
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Vigilant Surveillance is the
primary duty of all lifeguards to prevent accidents. But in
reality, vigilance is, by human nature, very difficult to maintain,
particularly when the visual tasks required by lifeguards
become boring, repetitive and routine. Youth, inexperience,
fatigue, heat, and sun also negatively affect the ability of a
lifeguard to maintain vigilant surveillance.
Lifeguards at Public Pools
The
first question you want to ask when you take your children to a guarded
pool is, "Are the lifeguards really paying attention?" The answer
is many cases is, not as much as they should be.
You
should be able to see the lifeguard scanning the pool. They are
taught that scanning should begin and end below their chair, so you
should see their heads returning to just below their chairs regularly.
The
reality is that in performance tests where a mannequin was placed on the
bottom of a busy pool the vast majority of lifeguards took over a minute
and a half to notice.
Even so, having a lifeguard is much better than not having a lifeguard.
Lifeguards are trained to respond to emergencies. We recommend
having your child swim at guarded facilities.
When should you allow your child to go to a public pool or country club
pool without you?
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They must know how to swim. This
means a minimum of 150 yards of crawl and
150 yards of backstroke.
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They must be of an age that you would drop
them off at any public place. If you would not drop off
your child at the mall or at a movie to meet friends or see a show
alone, do not drop them off at a pool alone.
Lifeguards are only watching your child in the pool, not in the locker
rooms or on deck. Lifeguards do not keep your child from leaving
the facility. Speaking from personal experience at the B-T pool
before we implemented policies to prevent this; some parents dropped off
five and six year old swimmers for Family Swim. These children were, in fact, strong
swimmers. However, they were ffve!!! No pool has the staff
to supervise such young swimmers the way they need to be supervised.
Baby Pools at public facilities are sometimes guarded and sometimes not
guarded. Water quality is an issue of concern at most baby pools.
Water should be completely exchanged at least once every day.
Chemicals should be checked regularly. Another issue at baby pools
is "bottom heavy" toddlers. Toddlers often fall forward when
walking in the baby pool, putting both hands down with the face ending
up under water. Often, the weight of water-filled diapers adding
to the problem, they are unable to right themselves without assistance.
I have seen many instances where mom is sitting two feet from a child
who has upended, but doesn't notice. There is no cry for
help. Children drown in seconds and in silence. You cannot
take your eyes off of a non-swimmer.
Be especially vigilant at zero-depth pools. I
know some parents like these, but I don't get it. We take children
who can't swim and who can barely walk on a level surface to play in the
water on an incline! Flat surfaces are much safer for toddlers and
preschoolers to navigate until they are skilled swimmers.
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING!
The person appearing to be "playing dead" at the
bottom of the pool may actually be lifeless. If you see
something that looks "not right" at a pool, say something. Ask for
help. Teach your children to do the same.
I have two videos that are both from surveillance cameras at pools where
drownings occurred. In both incidents, curious young swimmers
circled the victims for minutes. No one
reported anything to lifeguards or attempted to help the victims, they
just looked, diving down again and again, circling around and looking
again. I don't know that it occurred to any of the children that a
tragedy was occurring right in front of them, but I do know that no one
reported anything or asked for help. In both cases, it wasn't the
lifeguard who eventually spotted the victim, it was onlookers who cared
enough to get involved.
When you are the lifeguard...
When children are using a backyard pool there should always be a
designated, dedicated SWIMMER SENTRY. Swimmer Sentries have
a responsibility to guard and protect, not just watch.
Swimmer Sentries should always stand up and actively watch swimmers.
Swimmer Sentries can only watch one or more swimmers or one non-swimmer...not both.
Each non-swimmer requires their own sentry within arms reach at all
times. We call this Touch Supervision.
F.A.C.E.
Your Swimmers
Focus your
Attention.
Connect
with
Each.
You should never be responsible for so many children that you cannot
make connections with each one. Scan the pool from the bottom up
and then make a connection with each child in your care. Repeat
this process again and again. Make sure you see their faces, look
into their eyes, and read their expressions. Everyone ok?
Anyone fatigued? Scared? Angry? Frustrated?
Hungry? Need a bathroom break? The hand sign for the letter
"F" looks like the symbol most of us use to signal "OK."
F.A.C.E. your swimmers; give and receive the
F.A.C.E. signal meaning "all is well."
Surveillance tasks can become repetitive, boring, and routine.
It's easy to loose focus. Heat and fatigue also play a role in
reducing your ability to maintain vigilant surveillance. Clear the
pool to take rest and bathroom breaks. Stay hydrated. Know
your limitations. Finish with the same number of precious faces
that you started with.
 Don't
just watch the water.
F.A.C.E. your Swimmers
More backyard safety tips:
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Have safety equipment in place and in
working order at all times.
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Teenagers should not be allowed to use the
pool without supervision.
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Do not serve alcohol to swimmers of any
age.
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Do not allow diving into any backyard
pool.
A RESCUE RHYME
The Red Cross teaches REACH - THROW -
ROW - DON'T GO. However, we recommend the following:
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Reach: Assist a swimmer in
trouble by reaching with an object or your arm or leg.
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Throw: Throw a line or something
that floats to a swimmer in trouble.
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Row: In open water situations,
use a boat to get to a swimmer in distress.
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GO!: Go for help. Do not
attempt a rescue in water over your head if you are not a
trained lifeguard.
Only a trained lifeguard should
attempt a rescue in water over his/her head. You can get this training
yourself from a variety of organizations. We highly
recommend lifeguard training for owners of backyard pools.
Here are the answers to some questions
about backyard pool drownings...
Who was in charge of supervision at
the time of drowning?
What were the locations of the pool
drownings?
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65% were in a pool owned by the child's
family
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22% were in a pool owned by a relative
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11% happened at a neighbor's pool.
Drownings happen quickly and without
warning. There is no cry for help. 77% of the
children had been seen five minutes or less before being missed
and subsequently discovered in the pool.
And where were they last seen?
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46% were last seen in the house prior to
being found in the pool. Of these, 15% were thought to be
sleeping.
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23% were last seen in the yard, porch, or
patio, not in the pool area. That's a total of 69 percent that
were thought not to be in the pool area, but they were found in the
water.
CPR / FIRST AID / LIFEGUARD TRAINING
CPR
is an artificial method of circulating blood and oxygen through a body
attempting to keep the brain alive. CPR & First Aid Training are
readily available in most communities. We can help you find a
course in your area. It's easy to learn and YOU CAN DO IT.
Lifeguard Training is a great way to learn to respond to emergency
situations in and around the water. You do not have to plan to
work as a professional lifeguard to benefit from this training.
The American Red Course is excellent, but lengthy. I recommend
that all fifteen year olds take lifeguard training whether or not they
ever plan to lifeguard professionally.
DRY DROWNING IN THE NEWS -
I'm
not sure when the CDC updated their site with the following notice.
I read it and posted it here on November 14, 2008.
From the CDC site (link below):
UPDATE: Recent media reports
have incorrectly attributed to CDC data about incidents of "dry
drowning." CDC supports international consensus defining drowning as
"the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from
submersion/immersion in liquid" and does not distinguish between "wet"
and "dry" drowning. Children most commonly drown when they get into a
pool area unsupervised (for example, if there is inadequate fencing) or
they are playing in or around water without constant supervision or
lifeguarding. Most drownings happen quickly, and usually silently.
Aquatic activities under appropriate circumstances and supervision are
generally safe; additionally, swimming and water safety skills are
important and can be life-saving. Learn more about
preventing water-related injuries.
http://www.cdc.gov/print.do?url=http%3A//www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/drown.htm%23cdc%20research%20found
BATHTUBS & BUCKETS
Supervision is also the key to preventing children
from injury in bathtubs and buckets.
Never leave a child under the age of seven unattended
in the bathtub. So not leave a infant, toddler, or young child in
the care of a sibling or other caregiver younger than middle school age.
Get your supplies ready before the bath. Have
everything near at hand. While you are with a child in the
bathtub, do not let anything distract you from the task at hand.
Nothing else happening at that time in your house is more important than
preventing your child from drowning. When it comes to young
children in bathtubs, the potential for drowning is real.
Buckets can be a danger too, especially to toddlers.
The most danger seems to be from 5-gallon buckets. These are
sturdy enough not to tip over when a child uses them to pull up.
Watch your children closely when you are using buckets in the home.
Empty buckets as soon as you are finished using them.
Questions?
Click to ask Coach Neal.
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