Drowning Dangers

Drowning is a real threat to small children. In the United States, close to 250 children under the age of five years, will down in a swimming pool each year, and an additional 100 in the home, due to other safety hazards. It is important to understand the drowning dangers in your home so that you can protect your child, and self, from the devastation that comes when a child drowns.

First, swimming pools are one of the main places that a child will drown. It is imperative that your child is given lessons in swimming, but then also uses flotation devices that are properly inflated and secured. In addition to all of this, it is critical that a child is not left alone in a pool, not even for a few moments. Always monitor children when they swim, and talk to them about swimming safety, such as not running, not diving in shallow water, keeping their flotation devices on, and more.

Next, take a look at the drowning dangers in your own home. One of the biggest is bathtubs. The bathtub is the top in home location that drowning occurs. Just like the pool, it is critical that you don’t allow your child to be in the bathtub alone, even when it is running. Many children are left in the tub when it is running, they parent will not stop the tub, so that it will drain as it runs, but that they can play in it. They then leave the room to get other things done. What often happens is that children may sit over the drain, or a toy may block it, and the tub overfills, and the child may be completely submerged in water.

Hot tubs and spas are another drowning danger in the home. The important thing with hot tubs and spas is to talk to your child about not playing in or around it without mom or dad around. You also need to have a cover on it, and make sure that it locks so that a child can’t get it open, get under it, get trapped under it, etc.

Buckets, such as five gallon buckets are real dangers as well, one that many people do not realize are going to be a drowning danger in their home. If you use five-gallon buckets, you need to make sure that you don’t leave them laying around your house or yard where your child can get into them. Never leave them filled with water.
Wading pools can be a real danger, but you need to make sure that they are never left filled if unattended.

Another danger, and one that most people do not recognize is landscaping ponds. They are really popular in landscaping, and rarely are enclosed. In addition, they often have fish, lilly pads, or something else in them that attracts kids to them, raising risk of drowning.