Families can prepare for summer fun by taking a Red Cross course

With several drowning accidents tragically occurring over Memorial Day weekend, and 90 percent of people recently polled planning to take part in water-related activities this summer, the American Red Cross, Southeastern Michigan Chapter urges residents to take extra precautions in and around the water this summer.

“Unfortunately, many places where people swim are not supervised by lifeguards,” said Julie Smerecki, community safety and aquatics manager for the Southeastern Michigan Chapter. “This makes it even more important for people to know how to swim, and to use safe practices when in and around the water.” Enrolling in a learn-to-swim program is one of the most important steps to take.

A recent Red Cross survey found that more than 90 percent of the people polled are planning to participate in water-related activities this summer – with nearly half of the parents polled planning to swim where no lifeguard would be on duty. *

Metro Detroit residents can contact their local recreation department or community pool about learn-to-swim programs, such as those taught by Red Cross certified instructors. Further, the Southeastern Michigan Chapter offers ongoing First Aid/CPR courses, as well as lifeguarding courses at several locations throughout the tri-county area.

Besides enrolling in water safety and First Aid/CPR courses, take these other precautions for a safe summer:

· Never leave children unattended near - or with access to – water, not even for a moment. Maintain constant supervision and keep children within an arm’s length.

· Always swim with a buddy; do not swim alone. However, do not trust a child’s life to another child. Teach children to always ask permission to go near water.

· Have young swimmers or inexperienced swimmers wear U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets around water, but do not rely on lifejackets alone.

· If a child is missing, check the water first. Seconds count in preventing death or disability.

· Do not mix alcohol with swimming – the combination can be deadly.

· Have a cell phone handy and call 911 at the first sign of a medical emergency.

· Do not venture into water if the weather is turning bad. Listen to local weather alerts for oncoming storms.

For those with home pools, it is important to note that home pool drowning is a leading cause of death for children less than five years of age. In fact, the Consumer Product Safety Commission reported last year that of 300 reported drownings the previous year, 79 percent occurred in home pools.

Further, children who drowned were often out of sight for less than five minutes and under the care of at least one parent. So, take these extra precautions around a home pool:

· Remove or enclose steps or ladders to prevent access to an aboveground pool.

· Surround the entire pool with a fence or barrier that is at least four feet high, has a self-closing and self-latching gate, and is designed so that a child cannot climb over, under, around or through it.

· Have appropriate equipment by swimming pools at all times, such as reaching pole, ring buoy with attached line, cell phone, life jackets and first aid kit.

· Consider taking the online course, Home Pools Essentials, which is a joint venture of the Red Cross and the National Swimming Pool Foundation and is designed for those with children less than five years old. It comes with a 30-page reference guide and costs just $19.95, and is available through the Southeastern Michigan Chapter’s website.

To learn more about or register for the Home Pools Essentials course, see a list of Red Cross CPR/First Aid and lifeguarding courses, and get more water safety tips, please go to www.semredcross.org. For additional information or to register for all but the online course, call 586-756-7600.

* Telephone survey of 1,018 U.S. Adults 18 years and older on March 26-29, 2010 conducted by Infogroup | ORC. Margin of error is +/- 3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.