Teaching a child proper water safety as early as possible can avert tragedy.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Janis Fontaine
For three Palm Beach County families, June became the worst month of their lives. Three children, ages 3, 7 and 14, drowned in separate accidents in the first half of the month.
Rayyan Siddique, a 7-year-old boy with autism, drowned in a retention pond in Riviera Beach. Fourteen-year-old Colby Smith drowned after his airboat sank near Torry Island in Belle Glade. And a 3-year-old girl drowned (no name has been released) while playing in an unguarded section of the beach near the Boynton Inlet.
Historically, June is one of the peak months for drownings in Palm Beach County, and more children younger than age 5 drown in Florida than in any other state. About three-quarters of those drownings occur in swimming pools, and African-American children have the highest rate of drowning fatalities.
What can be done to change those trends?
“Get Water Safe, Palm Beach County!” That’s the message of a countywide drowning prevention program supported by government agencies, nonprofits and private businesses.
Everyone agrees the best line of defense is a good offense: In this case, teaching your kids water safety as early as possible, and learning rescue and swimming skills yourself.
City pools, county pools, the YMCA, and private pools all offer swimming lessons. There are even people who will come to your home and teach your child (or you) to swim.
Of course, fees vary widely. If you can’t afford even a nominal fee, the Drowning Prevention Coalition of Palm Beach County provides vouchers for free swimming lessons for low-income families. These $50 vouchers cover the cost of six to eight swimming lessons at about 20 public pools in Palm Beach County.
At the beginning of the summer, the coalition gave out 400 vouchers in just four days, exhausting its supply, until the Children’s Services Council stepped up with a $25,000 contribution. That paid for 500 more vouchers, more than doubling the number of vouchers distributed so far this year; but those are gone too, said Anna Stewart, manager of the Drowning Prevention Coalition of Palm Beach County.
“We do get a lot of demand,” Stewart said, “but everything was heightened because of the news, and I was on TV and in the newspaper. It’s sad, but this way something good will come out of it.”
Now the Children’s Services Council has agreed to a match private donations dollar for dollar up to $50,000 each year for the next three years to provide more vouchers.
There’s already a waiting list, Stewart said.
Delray Beach resident Kevin Charles, 5, works with Gerard A. Smith, aquatics operations supervisor for the Delray Beach Parks & Recreation Department, to learn to float during a level one swimming class at Pompey Park pool in Delray Beach. Pictured watching are (l-r) Emily Jean-Francois, 6, Kayla Taylor, 7, Jaden Lopez, 8, and Zamar Guy, 7, all of Delray Beach. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Be on guard at home
Maybe you and your kids know how to swim. And maybe you’re lucky enough to have a backyard pool. How do you keep your home and pool safe? The injury prevention section of FloridaHealth.gov says there are three layers of protection for safety in the pool (where most drownings occur): Supervision, barriers and emergency preparedness.
Even with lessons, there will always be children who don’t swim well, or who overestimate their skills and get into trouble. Experts say anytime a child is in the pool, a “dedicated watcher” is required. This is someone whose sole responsibility is keeping both eyes on the kids in the pool.
You can’t assume you’ll hear a child yell for help. “That’s the biggest misconception,” Stewart said. “You’re not going to hear someone who is drowning. Drowning is silent.”
And it takes only minutes.
FloridaHealth.gov says kids should be under “close-enough-to-touch supervision,” which means the designated adult is within arms’ reach of the kids in the pool.
Barriers and fences that keep kids out of the pool area when the pool isn’t in use need to be checked periodically for weak areas or holes. Gates should have self-closing latches. There should be alarms on all doors and windows out to the pool (don’t forget the doggy door) and on the pool itself.
Think whole-house protection, Stewart said. “It’s impossible to watch a child every second. That’s why you have multiple barriers. If one mechanism fails, you have another.”
Emergency preparedness measures include keeping rescue equipment (a shepherd’s hook and life preserver) accessible and in good repair, and having a phone poolside, charged and programmed with emergency numbers.
Most important, it means getting certified in CPR so you’re ready for anything. The Red Cross offers classes in first aid, CPR/AED, aquatics and life-guarding.
In 2014, the YMCA of South Palm Beach County developed “Water Wise,” a two-pronged approach consisting of water safety instruction in the classroom and in the water, developed especially for kids who don’t have access to traditional swimming lessons. The YMCA also has a dedicated program to teach water safety to special needs kids. Autistic children, especially, seem to be drawn to the water. The Y offers group swimming lessons on site, or it can send instructors to your community to provide water safety instruction.
All the lessons and locks and alarms might sound excessive but are worth it. If something happens, Stewart says, “At least you know you did everything you possibly could.”
And don’t forget: If a child is missing, look in the pool, spa, lake, pond or other attractive body of water first.
“A lot of this is common sense,” Stewart says. “We need to change the mentality that it can’t happen to you, because it can.”
To find a pool near you offering swimming lessons, visit pbcgov.com/drowningprevention and click on Swim Lessons.
Comments