I’ll never forget the call I received, about ten years ago, while working for our swimming pool company. It was early August, hot and humid with higher temperatures predicted, and a woman called asking us to close her pool asap. In the course of gathering the information I needed, I was told the woman’s four year old son had drowned the day before. Stunned and heart-sick, I made the appointment for the next day; then spent the rest of the day replaying the call, and thinking about the woman, her family, and the little boy who wouldn’t grow any older.
If you own a swimming pool, safety has to be a major focus, but it doesn’t need to be a stressful one if you follow prevention methods, and use common sense. If you have young children teach them to swim early, or sign them up for lessons. Infancy is not too early. Also, toys in the pool are fun when kids are swimming, but they become dangerous left floating alone; enticing toddlers to lean over the edge to reach for them. Make sure all toys leave the pool when your children do.
Other safety measures are ensuring that your pool is properly fenced and gated. Make sure nothing is propped or placed by the fence for children to scale the barrier with. Also, make sure the gate is self-closing and always latches properly.
If this doesn’t calm your fears, you can find a varied array of pool alarms online or at your local pool store. There are wristband sensors that go off when immersed. Pool level alarms go off when water has been displaced. These alarms either float in the pool or hang over the edge. Another alarm sounds a siren when 18 pounds enters the water.
Fences, gates, alarms are fine, but they are not infallible. Make rules for your children to follow and enforce them. Never let yourself be distracted by the phone, your tablet, or the doorbell; take a class to learn CPR. In the end, supervision and due diligence are your best defense.
-Karen, Tile/Coping Specialist
