How to prevent a child from drowning

How to prevent a child from drowning

• Always be careful when children are near water. Supervise children's behavior carefully at all times.
• Never instruct older children to look after younger children while bathing, swimming or playing near water. Wherever children bathe or swim (in the sea, lake, pool, bathtub), supervision by parents or other adults responsible for the children is always necessary.
• When you bathe children in the bathtub, be with them. Babies and young children usually drown in a bath or tub. Be present all the time while bathing the child and do not leave the children even with older siblings. As soon as you finish bathing the child, empty the bath. Babies can drown in water only a few inches deep!
• Identify the possible hazards in your yard. Wells, toilets, barrels, buckets, troughs - young children can fall into them easily, so it is necessary not to keep them filled with water or accessible to children. Enclose swimming pools and other water surfaces with a protective fence, to prevent children from approaching them without supervision.
• Secure your yard so that children cannot leave it on their own. Children can go out to the street or adjacent yards and encounter unsecured canals, swimming pools and other bodies of water.
• Children should wear protective gear if they cannot swim, such as swim vests, armbands, etc. The likelihood of drowning increases if this type of personal protective gear is not used; therefore, make sure that children wear protection, especially when moving along the shore, sailing in boats or swimming in rivers, lakes, the sea, and, if necessary, in swimming pools.
• Jumps into the water are a special danger. Jumping into shallow water and hitting against the pool edge during the jump are a common cause of spinal cord injuries, and can also lead to drowning. Teach children to check the depth of the water they want to jump into, as well as to make sure they jump feet-first the first time.
• During the winter, do not allow children to walk on frozen water surfaces. The ice cover is often not strong enough to support a child's weight.

Teach the child to swim

At the age of 4-5, children should start swimming training, but keep in mind that every child is different, and you should not force him/her; instead, he/she should start swimming lessons when he/she is ready, so as not to create resistance to swimming.

Remember - just because a child knows how to swim doesn't mean you should leave him/her unattended. Master the skill of swimming and basic resuscitation procedures (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).