Swimming Pool Safety Tips

Though swimming pools can be fun in the summer, each year about 260 children drown under the age of 5. Always keep a close watch on children even if they can swim. To protect your family always be sure to follow these tips:

• Install physical barriers around the pool to limit access to children.
• Fences and walls should be at least 4-feet high and installed completely around the pool.
• Gates should be self-enclosed and self-latching. The latch should be out of reach of small children.
• If your house forms one side of the barrier for the pool, doors leading from the house to the pool should be protected with alarms that sound when the doors are unexpectedly opened. Or use a power safety cover, a motor-powered barrier placed over the water area, to prevent access by young children.
• For above-ground pools, steps and ladders to the pool should be secured or removed when the pool is not in use.
• If a child is missing, always look in the pool first. Every second counts.
• Knowing how to swim does not mean a child will not drown. Never use floatation devices as a subsitute for supervision.
• Keep resuce equipment and a phone next to the pool
• Learn CPR

Pool & Spa Entrapment Dangers

• Never use a pool or spa with a missing or broken drain cover. Be sure a new and safe drain cover is in place. The new drain covers are usually domed-shaped instead of flat.
• Consider installing a Safety Vacuum Release System (SVRS), a device that will automatically shut off a pump if a blockage is detected.
• Have a professional regularly inspect you pool or spa for entrapment or entanglement hazards
• Plainly mark the location of the electrical cut-off switch for the pool or spa pump.
• If someone is entrapped against a drain, cut off the pump immediately, instead of trying to pull the person away from the drain and the person's body to break the seal.

For more information please visit www.cpsc.gov