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How to prevent child drownings

Posted at 5:51 AM, May 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-02 06:51:58-04

The Centers for Disease Control states that the number one cause of death in children under the age of 4, are drownings. 

So far in 2018, there have been 18 child drownings in the state of Texas and 3 just in Nueces County. 

May is Drowning Prevention Month, and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services wants parents to keep their children safe from the water.

Amy Borden, owner and instructor of Survival Swim Corpus Christi, says survival swim lessons should be the last resort if a child gets past the layers of protection.

Whenever a child is present near a body of water it is essential to make sure all of your layers are put into place.

  • Supervise your children
  • Keep inside doors locked at all times
  • Put up a fence around your background pool
  • Always use life jackets near natural bodies of water
  • Learn CPR
  • Take Survival swim lessons

Borden says, “if they get through your layers of protection, they have the ability to then save themselves by rolling on their back and floating.”
Amy Borden has been teaching survival swim lessons to children as young as six months old. “No child should, hopefully, ever have to use their skills, but they’re there if they need them.”

Borden believes that one of the main layers of protection stems from parents. She says you can save a child’s life just by knowing CPR. “If you start CPR immediately,” says Borden, “you’re giving them oxygen back in their brain and you’re gonna stop the severity of the drowning.”

And the best piece of advice for parents who  cannot find their child, always check water first. “If you check the house first and they’ve been in water. You’re losing minutes that you could prevent those severe after effects of drowning.”

For more information on water safety, http://www.helpandhope.org/Parenting_Tips/Articles/water-safety.asp and http://www.helpandhope.org/Water_Safety/Child_Drownings/