5 Tips to Prevent Drowning Accidents in Arizona
By Craig Knapp on March 24, 2015

If you type “Arizona drowning” into Google News, you’ll be met with far too many news stories of toddlers and even teens drowning or near-drowning. As temperatures begin to rise in Arizona, families will gather outside and children will flock to the swimming pool. This is what’s great about summertime in Arizona, but it also brings a lot of risk. This is why it’s so important that adults watch children around water and that no one – regardless of age – ever swims alone.

To keep your family safe around water, here are 5 tips to prevent drowning accidents:

1.) Make sure your pool has an effective barrier, such as a fence to help guard against unauthorized access. It’s also good to keep a lock of some kind on the fence, as well, to guard against children standing on chairs or objects to open the gate.

2.) Doors and windows leading to the pool area should remain locked at all times. This includes doggy doors. Children have been known to crawl through a doggy door to get outside. Make sure it is secured. Remember that these barriers are not a solve-all. It is still important that you always keep an eye on your children, even with the proper safety measures in place.

3.) Keep toys, tricycles, and other children’s play things away from the pool. Any objects left around the pool could entice children to find a way in. By keeping all toys out of the pool area, it will lessen the likelihood of your child wanting to go near the pool

4.) Enroll your children in swimming lessons. This will help your child learn the techniques needed to swim safely. However, don’t think that swimming lessons make your child “drown proof.”

5.) Keep life saving devices near the pool and arm yourself with life-saving training. Learn to administer CPT, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and first aid training. You can find this training at various places in Arizona. ASU is a great resource that has safety education classes offered on all 4 of their campuses starting weekly. You can find other Arizona swimming resources in our post, Water Safety Resources.

Keep in mind that drowning accidents can happen in homes without pools, as well. Children have drowned in as little as an inch of water. Regardless of age, safety measures, and circumstances, your best protection against drowning accidents is to keep an eye on your children at all times. Even a minute alone is too long. If you’re child has suffered a drowning accident, you may be eligible for compensation. Contact a Phoenix injury lawyer from Knapp & Roberts today for a free case consultation.