Summer is upon us

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 Summer is coming quickly!  Are you and your children comfortable with all the summer activities that are bound to excite you this year?  Including all the fun you can have around water?

Safety of utmost importance when doing anything around water.  Be it swimming, hiking near water (lakes, river, streams), boating, fishing, canoeing.  Before you go on your day or weekend excursion, make sure you know before you go, what type of safety equipment will be required, and do's and don'ts around moving water.  

First let's discuss pools, specifically back yard pools.  Many people have them and there isn't a lifeguard on duty.  So parents stay around the pool not actually paying attention to what is going on in the pool.  Most child drownings take place within 10 feet of an adult.  That is why you need to establish a schedule for being a water watcher during pool time.  Adults can establish a schedule for prioritizing a person to specifically watch the water for 15 to 20 minutes.  During a party it really isn't much time at all, but when you have an actually person assigned to the pool, it is much more safe than twenty people kind of looking over the pool for hours.

 

Now lets talk boating, for all small personal water craft device, you need to wear a life jacket, regardless of age and ability.  A canoe or kayak can overturn very easily and you can be thrown out.  Also if you are around rapids you can easily be hurt by rocks.  A life jacket will allow you to float and you do not need to attempt to tread water.  If you are in a rocky place, can really endanger you by kicking, or bumping in to rock, or debris in the water.  

Hiking near running water.  If you drop something into the water, you should say goodbye to it, and not attempt to get into moving water to retrieve it.  Moving water can knock you down quite easily and take you under in a second.   

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