Water Safety USA, a consortium of 14 national governmental and non-governmental organizations, including the National Swimming Pool Foundation® (NSPF®), has announced its 2017 water safety message: “Designate a water watcher—supervision could save a life.”
The consortium agrees that designating a water watcher when in, on, or around water can help prevent tragedy. All parents and guardians can benefit by designating a water watcher who takes on the role of ensuring all children and adolescents are continually supervised, even if they know how to swim.
“If everyone is assigned to water watching, sadly it sometimes means that no one is watching, which can lead to tragedy,” said Tina Dessart, the USA Swimming Foundation’s Make a Splash program director. “Designating a single person, who is without distractions, is much more likely to ensure safety.”
In fact, a new campaign developed by the Royal Life Saving Society Australia (RLSSA), a sister organization to the Life Saving Society in Canada, also emphases the importance of eliminating distractions in and around the pool. The program targets parents who are focused on their smartphones to the detriment of supervising their children around water.
The Lifesaving Society’s ‘ON GUARD’ is one tool that can be used by pool owners to enlist a water watcher. The card is attached to a lanyard and provides the wearer with important safety messages for keeping young children and non-swimmers safe. It is accompanied by a brochure clearly stating a safety supervisor should be designated and that it should be passed to the next adult when that person is called away.
Drowning prevention is key to maintaining a healthy and safe swimming experience. According to a recent survey, 60 per cent of parents reported engaging in some type of distracted activity while their children swam in a pool, such as using a phone or tablet, reading a book, drinking alcohol, sleeping or leaving the pool altogether.
“Water watchers are important even if a lifeguard is present,” said Thomas Lachocki, Ph.D., CEO of NSPF. “Water watchers should be at least 16 years old and able to recognize and execute a rescue, provide a floating or reaching object, alert someone nearby to help or call 911, and be able to administer CPR.”
