Water Safety

Columns

May 27

Are you prepared for EVERY scenario?

By John Engh

In a recent YouTube video, a small child at a crowded hotel pool fights to stay afloat and eventually sinks to the bottom. He is surrounded by adults and other kids, but they are distracted by their own conversations and activities. Eventually, an alert 9-year-old signals two nurses who happened to be on-site, and they are able to revive the victim, even though he has been underwater for three minutes. Unfortunately, that type of happy ending is not always the case.

Water safety and emergency preparedness are such an important subject for recreation professionals who oversee youth-sports events, and I am not just referencing swimming events. Many of the fields and courts that host parks and rec activities are in close proximity to a body of water. Whether there is an outdoor pool, a small pond, or large lake, emergency preparedness is an important issue.

The stories below from Olympic swimmers, some of whom discuss their own near-drowning experiences as kids, hopefully will make people realize an incident can occur at any time.

Jessica Hardy, Olympic gold medalist at the 2012 Summer Games in London: “I fell into a pool at a children’s birthday party as a young girl. I was under the water, and I remember the man who saved me was wearing a yellow shirt, and I remember just staring up at this yellow blob through the water. I’m so grateful that he spotted me and jumped in and saved my life. Having experienced a near-drowning episode as a kid, I understand that, if it can happen to someone who went on to win an Olympic gold medal, then it really can happen to anyone.”

Rowdy Gaines, three-time Olympic gold medalist and 10-time world-record holder: “I get a Google alert whenever a child drowns, and I usually get two or three a day because on average 10 people drown a day, and two or three of them are kids. I’m not happy about it because I know it’s so preventable.”

Cullen Jones, two-time Olympian and two-time gold medalist: “My parents took me to a water park, and on one of the rides my tube flipped over and I was submerged for about 30 seconds and lost consciousness. The park staff had to resuscitate me. I hear so many different stories, and I definitely relate to a lot of them because I was that child. I was almost part of the statistics that we are trying to fight.”

Tragedy struck my own family many winters ago when—because of a cold snap—youth-sports games had to be moved to an indoor facility. While the children inside were playing, my young nephew and his friend, who were waiting for their own games to begin, were playing outside and fell through thin ice on a nearby pond. His friend was pulled from the ice, but, sadly, my nephew drowned. Many changes have taken place at this public park since the incident, including improved warning signs and the installation of life ring boxes, but, unfortunately, this was after the fact.

So, with warm weather arriving and people looking forward to getting outside and in or near the water, it’s a great time to review emergency procedures and check all of the areas where a water tragedy may strike. Here are some suggestions:

• Rehearse water-emergency situations with staff members so everyone understands their roles and valuable seconds aren’t wasted if a situation does occur.

• Conduct monthly reviews on how to use AEDs, and note where they are located at a facility.

• For a facility with a pool, review policies regarding the ratio of lifeguards to those in the pool. Is there enough supervision at all times? Are random checks performed periodically to ensure lifeguards are performing their responsibilities and aren’t being distracted by cell-phone use or talking to friends?

• Identify any lakes and ponds around a facility in which children may venture while attending or participating in activities. Have warnings been issued about staying away from those areas? If an emergency occurs, are staff members able to direct an ambulance to the location on a 911 call?

• Encourage volunteer coaches to become certified in CPR because the more adults who can perform these life-saving skills, the better the chances are of preventing a tragedy.

John Engh is executive director of the National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) in West Palm Beach, Fla. He can be reached via email at jengh@nays.org. To join more than 3,000 communities by starting a NAYS Member Organization, visit www.nays.org, email nays@nays.org or call (800) 729-2057.