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Young children are naturally drawn to water. They are curious about the sound of flowing water and how light shimmers on its surface. They want to look at it more closely, touch it with their hands and feel it splashing on their bodies. But, water can also be deadly and drowning can happen quickly and without any warning of splashing or screaming.
Is Your Child at Risk?
- In-ground swimming pools without complete four-sided isolation fencing are 60 percent more
 likely to be involved in drownings than those with four-sided isolation fencing
- Drownings and near-drownings tend to occur on the weekend (40 percent), and most frequently occur between the months of May and August (62 percent)
- 69 percent of incidents occurred while one or both parents were responsible for supervison
- 65 percent were in the pool owned by the child's family, 22 percent at a relative's home and 11 percent at a neighbor's home
- 77 percent of drowning victims had been seen five minutes or less before being missed
- 46 percent of drowning victims were last seen in the house
Source: USA Safe Kids, CSPC
Layers of Protection are the Key to Prevention:
One of those "layers" starts with complying with the current residential pool requirement of a protective enclosure. To help prevent accidental drowning, N.C. building codes now require homeowners and business owners to have a barrier around any body of water over two feet deep; in Mecklenburg County, additional residential pool barrier requirements apply as well.
Other layers of protection for children and homes with small children residing in them include:
- Supervision
- Door alarms
- Pool alarms
- Pool covers
- Swimming lessons
- Rescue devices.
As with all safety, proper maintenance is required yearly to ensure safety devices work as they should, including checking self-closing locks and making sure bushes have not grown high enough to become stepping stones for children.
For more information on pool safety follow the links below:
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