For children everywhere, warmer weather means fun trips to water parks and neighborhood pools. While water play can be a fun way to keep cool, safety continues to be an important concern for parents. According to the CDC, an estimated 10 people drown daily with at least 2 being children under the age of 14 and drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional death among kids ages 1 to 4.
For this reason, four-time Olympic Gold Medalist, Janet Evans, has signed on to be an ambassador for the USA Swimming Foundation and their national “Make a Splash” water safety initiative. As the new “Make a Splash Mom” and a mother of two, Janet understands the importance of teaching children to swim and has dedicated her work to furthering the cause of battling childhood drowning. Below are a few life saving tips that Janet shares to help parents protect their children.
- Don’t use water wings on small children. They offer a false sense of security and hinder children from learning to swim on their own.
- Put children in swimming lessons from an early age. When formal swimming lessons are introduced to children aged one to four years, their risk of drowning is reduced by up to 88%.
- Learn CPR. CPR has been shown to save lives among drowning victims and the more quickly it is performed, the higher the chance of better outcomes.
For more information on the USA Swimming Foundation and the Make a Splash initiative, visit www.
