Drowning prevention is a concern for all parents. Infant House works with many different organizations to promote child safety. One of the organizations we work with on drowning prevention is Dolfin Swim School and on Facebook.
Meet Lobster
Infant House met with Linda, known as ”Lobster” to her students. All of the staff have aquatic nicknames. Linda explained her program like this; ”At Dolfin Swim School, our first priority is to teach Water safety. We start with the first class that each swimmer attends by teaching our swimmers to get back to the wall. We will also teach our swimmers to roll over onto their backs, float calmly, and then kick on their backs to the wall or steps. Lastly, we spend one class teaching the #1 Water safety rule and 4 ways to help someone “in trouble”. These skills have proven to save several of our own Dolfin swimmers’ lives.”
Introduction to Texas Drowning Prevention Alliance
Linda then introduced us to the TXDPA and their Facebook page as well. TXDPA breaks down like this:
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Water Watcher Tag
In addition, Infant House asked some questions about the water watcher and Linda explained the duties of the water watcher are here on the tag:
We discovered the tag consists of the credit card sized tag, a lanyard and an emergency whistle. The tag is to be worn by the designated water watcher. At which point, they are ”ON DUTY”.
Simple Scenario
You are having a two hour pool party with several kids and four adults. Simply assign 15-20 minute shifts to each adult and rotate through. This is not too much for any one adult to bear. Consequently, during the water watchers’ shift; they follow the tag rules and the other adults are asked to not engage them in conversation. Finally, as the two hours are over, everyone exits the pool, the party is over and everyone had a great time!
Side Note box or bubble: Infant House likes to give away 2 tags to every new client that has a swimming pool. Hence, one tag for them and one to give away so we can all share the program and save some lives.
Drowning Facts (Scattered in article as side notes)
- Drowning is the number one cause of death for children under age 4
- 88% of drowning victims were under some sort of supervision
- 75% of drowning victims were missing for under five minutes
- Formal swimming lessons can reduce the drowning risk by 88% for ages 1-4
About the Author
Jack Smith is a child safety expert with Infant House. Infant House is a child safety company serving the Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth as well as the San Antonio Texas areas. He is the Daddy of boy/girl twins. Affiliated with the International Association for Child Safety. Contributing author of “Chaos 2 Calm the moms-of-multiples’ guide to an organized family”. He has been on CBS and is the inventor of the GlideLok – a childproof door latch sold worldwide. Contact: InfantHouse.com or call 866-Infant5 (866-463-2685) for your in-home childproofing evaluation. Sources: Dolfin Swim School and the Texas Drowning Prevention Alliance. 08/16
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