Summer involves being around water, and with that, water safety becomes an important matter.
“Swimming and water safety education is not just a skill, it’s a lifesaving necessity,” said Rose Cushing, president and CEO of the YMCAs of Metuchen, Edison, Woodbridge and South Amboy.
Drowning is a leading cause of death for children. Every year in the U.S., there are an estimated 4,000 fatal unintentional drownings, an average of 11 such deaths per day, according to the CDC.
“There are too many youth drownings annually, such that learning how to swim is an important life skill for the safety and protection of children,” noted Greg Keresztury, COO of Medford’s YMCA of the Pines.
“With 120 miles of coastline, over 1,700 lakes, rivers and pools, New Jersey presents numerous water hazards, making safety skills crucial,” explained Julie Gallanty, CEO of the New Jersey YMCA State Alliance. “In New Jersey, about 64 people drown annually, including roughly 10 under 15, and nearly 90 percent of child drownings involve an adult present but inattentive.”
Gallanty recommends starting swimming lessons early, between ages 1 and 4, and continuing them throughout school-age years because “progression matters.”
Plenty of YMCAs in New Jersey offer swimming lessons and water-safety classes.
“The Y offers swim lessons as early as 6 months and continues through adults,” said Nicole Bizuga, senior aquatics director at the Hamilton area YMCA. “Parents should practice water safety at every age. Children ages 0 to 4 years are among the highest unintentional drowning rates.”
The CDC reports that more children ages 1 to 4 die from drowning than any other cause of death, and for children ages 5 to 14, drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional injury death after car crashes.
“Drowning happens quickly and without noise,” advised Diane Concannon, communications director at the American Red Cross New Jersey Region.
Drowning prevention guidelines are an important step towards swimming and pool safety. Keresztury outlined the following critical points:
- Put your kids in swim lessons early and often to develop both the physical skills necessary to float, swim, and exit a pool safely and the stamina and muscle endurance needed to do so.
- Ensure that a responsible adult is supervising aquatics activities at all times at an unguarded, residential pool. Having “adults around” is not sufficient; someone needs to own and be responsible for the task of ensuring that eyes are on the water at all times. That responsibility can then be shared and passed off from one adult to another.
- Put all non-swimmers in a personal flotation device. This doesn’t eliminate the risk, but it does reduce the risk of drowning.
- Ensure that fences, gates and other systems used to secure the pool deck are working appropriately, are in good repair and are being used consistently (such as gates being shut when folks enter and leave a pool deck).
“The Y offers ‘Safety Around Water’ lessons year-round for individuals to master basic swim safety education and skills,” Bizuga pointed out. “Learning two key swim skills – ‘swim-float-swim’ and ‘jump-push-turn-grab’ – teaches students how to be water safe.”
Education around water safety is valuable to both adults and children. “Reach or Throw, Don’t Go” teaches individuals to not enter the water when they see another person struggling.
“We show students to throw out another item, noodle or float to help,” Bizuga said. “Going into the water for another person could cause two possible drownings.”
“Ask Permission” is a tool for parents to practice with their children, she added, “by having the child ask permission to enter the pool or water before going in, parents then take responsibility to make sure the conditions are safe for their child and build a routine to ensure they are safe.”
YMCAs in New Jersey also remind adults to be keep their eyes on their children – not cell phones – at pools and beaches. The instruction is known as the “Phones Down, Eyes Up” reminder.
These approaches to swimming and pool safety are part of the skills that local YMCAs offer. According to the American Red Cross, 80% of Americans say they can swim, but less than half can perform five basic water- safety competencies. For more information about these skills, visit https://www.redcross.org/content/dam/redcross/atg/PHSS_UX_Content/Infographic-Water-Safety-Skills.pdf.
New Jersey YMCAs have 82 swimming with certified lifeguard and experience swim instructors for swimmers at all levels. Visit www.njymca.org/locations to find one.
“With extensive beaches, ponds, reservoirs and residential pools, New Jersey faces persistent drowning risks,” Gallanty observed. “Through early lessons, community programs and attentive supervision, families can ensure their loved ones learn essential water-safety skills and help meet the statewide goal of reducing drowning by nearly one-third by 2030.”
For more information about water safety, visit the American Red Cross at https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/water-safety.html.
