One second there were two beautiful girls, just eight and five years old, innocently standing on a low-water bridge watching the flood waters rush by; the next, one was desperately trying in vain to pull the other back up to safety. In an instant, the angry waters had swept her little friend away.
According to the Global Report on Drowning, “Drowning is one of the top five causes of death for people aged 1-14 years.”
Those are some scary statistics.
It’s summer, and summer — at least where I live — would be torturous without water. But as parents of children, especially within those age parameters, what can we do to keep our kids safe? What safety issues should we be aware of?
To answer those questions, I turned to a friend of mine, Crystal Beierle. Crystal was the eight year-old girl in the story I mentioned above; because of that traumatic experience, she has dedicated her life to teaching others about water safety. She currently runs her own business, East Aquatics and Safety, where she is a Safety and American Red Cross Instructor for Lifeguard, Aquatic Attraction, Waterfront, swim lessons, Water Safety Instructor trainer, CPR, AED, First Aid, Wilderness First Aid, BLS and Babysitting First Aid/CPR instructor. Suffice it to say, she knows what she’s talking about, and for the last 20+ years she has been teaching people how to be safe around water.
Crystal’s motto is, “Learning how to swim is not an activity, it’s a life skill.” She insists the earlier you introduce your child to the water, the better. The older someone gets, the more logically they think, “Hey, I could drown,” making them all the more apprehensive about being introduced to the water. Interestingly enough, adults are some of the most difficult subjects to teach how to swim, because they have a lifetime of fear to get past.
Before going to the pool, lake, ocean, creek, etc., Crystal says to make sure your kid can blow bubbles in the water, and calmly float on their back. Blowing bubbles in the water will keep the water out of their nose, and floating on their back will enable them to buy themselves time to be found should they ever get into trouble. You’ll notice I said calmly float; the last thing you want them to do is to panic if they get to the point they know they need help! The more a person thrashes around, the more quickly they will sink and drown.
Remember, teach your kids (and remind yourself): if you get into trouble in the water, DON’T PANIC, and STAY CALM!
What about taking your child to the local pool? They have trained lifeguards watching your kids. Is it okay to dump them off and go run errands, or zone out to get a tan?
I posed this tricky question to Crystal. I asked, “Should I, as a parent, trust the lifeguards at a pool to keep my child safe?”
She smiled (because, after all, I was questioning the validity of her life’s work) then wisely passed on this advice: “Lifeguards are trained to know what they are doing, but they are human. There is one lifeguard for every 25 kids.” Enough said.
She warns the biggest mistake parents make is thinking someone else is watching their kid. If I take my kids to the lake and I know I’m the only adult there, I’ll be watching them like a hawk. If I go to that same lake with a group of adults and kids, the temptation to believe someone else is watching them is one of the most dangerous assumptions we can make. When everyone thinks someone else is watching, soon no one is watching. In other words, ironically enough, the more “watchers” there are, the more likely someone is to drown.
So what about life jackets? Everyone knows they are meant to save your life, but not just any life jacket is worth using. Crystal strongly warns against arm floaties … you know, those little sleeve puffs you blow up and wiggle onto your toddler’s arms? She said they give a false sense of security and are highly dangerous. They can deflate, or slide right off due to slippery sunscreen (or even just the water itself).
Crystal’s highest recommendation goes to finding a jacket that is a “full vest.” Not the kind that have open sides where one could slip out the side. A full vest that zips up the front, with snug straps to tighten around the torso, is the best protection out there. She warned against those cheap little orange vests every summer camp seems to have, basically because they’re poor quality. Sending a good life vest along with them to camp might be something to consider.
Another caution worth mentioning is: be careful once you take the life jacket off your child. Say your little one has been swimming in the lake all day, faithfully wearing their life jacket. It’s time to go, and you call them out of the water and start packing up the car. You would be wise to keep that jacket on until you are ready to enter the car. This is PRIME TIME for your kid to drown, because he’s used to being able to go jump in the water with that jacket to hold him up. A child can easily forget she’s no longer wearing it, innocently hop right back in the water without it, and drown in a shockingly short amount of time.
What about boating this summer? It is the law to at least have a life jacket along, and for most states, anyone under 13 is required to be wearing it.
While we are talking about boats, I want to mention rope entrapment. You’re at the lake, people are hopping on and off tubes, boogie boards, and more. The rope gets hauled in with the rider, then let back out to take the next rider. Be careful that the rope is fully extended before hitting the gas. If that rope is wrapped around someone’s foot when you hit the gas, not only could it drag them out of the boat, but it could actually pop their foot right off completely!
So … what if my kid is an excellent swimmer (or I am)? Is it enough to just have a life jacket nearby? After all, the law stipulates it just be in the boat with me. Even being the expert swimmer that she is, Crystal said when kayaking, she is ALWAYS wearing her life jacket. Just because you’re a good swimmer does not mean you still can’t drown. Just a few years back, in 2014, a local 16 year-old boy named Evan, an experienced swimmer and member of the swim team, tragically drowned at the river near us. His parents have since established a foundation to honor Evan’s memory and love of swimming, by “providing water safety advocacy through education, swim related scholarships, and continuing Evan’s legacy of living life fully.” (You can learn more and read Evan’s story here.)
So, what does drowning look like? We’ve all seen drowning depicted in a movie or TV show, with the victim thrashing around wildly in the water, screaming for help. Won’t it be obvious to everyone around that a kid is in trouble? Crystal asserts it most definitely won’t. Drowning can look like kids playing under the water. Someone can just quietly go under and not be able to come back up. Maybe they are playing in the shallow end of a pool that gradually gets deeper and deeper and just accidentally walk in over their head. She said the biggest tale tale sign is “huge saucer eyes” — those bulging, bug-eyed, terrified eyes. If you see that in someone in the water, assume they need help.
We all know the ocean has a riptide and swimming almost parallel to the beach is your best bet, but did you know some lakes can mimic that same riptide effect? Maybe it has an undercurrent due to a dam, or that innocent looking cove can gradually pull you out. Life jackets at the beach are simply a must for children who could end up in water to their waist or higher.
How about eating right before you swim? I remember as a child being told how dangerous that could be. Apparently, the theory is based on the idea that eating a big meal will divert blood away from your arms and legs, toward your digestive tract as it works to digest that meal. In theory, this leaves your limbs without enough blood flow to function properly. Crystal assured me this is actually just a myth, or an old wives tale.
As a mom of four, one of my greatest fears has been somehow ending up in the water in the car … having to get all the seat belts and car seats undone, and get everyone to safety. I’m not quite as paranoid now that I’ve got a couple teenagers to help if that were to happen, but I’ve gone so far as to purchase and carry a tool that breaks glass and cuts seat belts. If you should ever find yourself in this nightmare, though, Crystal says to stay calm (easier said than done, I know), let the car fill up with water, open the door and follow your air bubbles to the surface. It’s easy to get turned around under water and actually swim down instead of up. Air bubbles will always float to the top, though, so follow them to safety.
A couple of other dangers to keep in mind this year, while you’re out enjoying the waterfronts:
- Dehydration: Drink lots of water. It’s surprisingly easy to forget to drink it when it’s all around you.
- Sun-poisoning (also known as photodermatitis): Signs and symptoms
- Sunburns: While I prefer physical sun barriers like rash guards and hats, sometimes sunscreen is the only practical option. Not all sunscreens are equal, though, so do a little research and find what is best for your family.
- Foot protection: Creeks, lakes, and oceans can be littered with glass, rusted metal, or fish hooks.
Whew! I realize this has been a lot of information, and I don’t want to scare you away from summer fun, but it’s good to refresh ourselves on common-sense warnings that need be in our thoughts each year. Perhaps a healthy fear is a good thing.
I have one more gem to share with you as a parting gift. Every summer, we go to the lake. And every year, like clockwork, my oldest would get a horrible ear infection during our stay. Every. Single. Year. His doctor once shared with me a recipe given to her several years previously, by an older paramedic. After your child has been swimming in the lake, river, or creek, or any water source one might have reason to question its cleanliness — and lets face it, you never know what’s upstream! — simply drip a few drops of this homemade ear wash into the ear canal. It’s a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and rubbing alcohol. It will swiftly kill off any bacteria that may have gotten into the ears, before it has a chance to multiply, set up camp, and cause problems. Of course, I was happy to try about anything to avoid a panicked car trip in the middle of the night with a toddler screaming in pain … and what do you know, it works! We haven’t had a single ear infection at the lake since. It’s been 10 years, and three additional kids, and I’m completely sold on the practice.
Hit the beaches, explore the creeks and rivers, enjoy the pools and lakes in your neck of the woods this summer … and most of all, be safe!
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