The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says children ages one to four have the highest drowning rate. They're curious, and fast. We look away for just a couple seconds, and it can be too late.
"Don't even step away to answer your phone leaving the child out by the pool. Stepping in for a second, that's all it takes is one second for it to happen," says Nurse Rochelle Armola, Director of Trauma Services at ProMedica Toledo Hospital and Toledo Children's Hospital.
She says every year in Ohio about 35 children drown, and even kids who are strong swimmers should never be left alone while swimming. Safe Kids Greater Toledo Volunteer Safety Instructor Mike Schabeck says "swimmies" or "floaties," those inflatable bands kids wear around their upper arms, are probably "the" most dangerous thing on the market. He says you should cut them up and throw them away because they won't protect your child in the water. He says what they need is a Coast Guard approved life jacket.
"The way to tell that they're Coast Guard approved," says Mike, "Open 'em up on the inside and you'll see a great big approval number in there."
He says you need to make sure it fits, too. First, he says, secure it on your child and then grab the jacket from the back.
"Have their hands above their head try to pick them up," says Mike. "If you can pick them up without the life jacket coming off, then it's a proper size."
He says if you see someone struggling in the water, never go in because you could drown, too.
"Reach, throw, row, but don't go," says Mike.
He says reach with a pole to give them something to grab. Throw something to the person in trouble. Row out to them in a boat, if you're in open water. But, Mike says only a trained lifeguard should go in the water, like those at the YMCA/JCC of Greater Toledo who helped us demonstrate rescues for our story.
If you can get to a submerged child quickly, Rochelle Armola says, knowing CPR could make all the difference.
"If you start CPR early, before the life squad gets there," she says, "Then you have an increased chance of survival for that child."
The CDC says if you're watching a preschooler in or around water you should use "touch supervision." That's when you're close enough to the child to reach out and touch them at all times, essentially an arm's length away.
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