Summer safety, swimming and boating
July 2004

It is important therefore at this time of the year to remind ourselves of some basic rules for safe swimming and water sports.

Swim with a buddy and never leave children in or near water unsupervised is a basic rule to remember. Do not forget that children watch what their parents do and imitate them. Therefore your good and safe behavior relevant to water and swimming will have significant impact on your child's behavior.

Needless to say that it is important, if you do not know how to swim, that you have to go and learn swimming with a good teacher if you wish to enjoy the sea, pools and pleasures of water sports. Special attention should be given for learning swimming to your children and teaching them safe behavior in the water which could protect their lives.

Choosing where you are going to swim is important. You have to go to places that you know or that are suitable for swimmers without dangers unknown to you. Additionally you should have information about the depth of waters of the places you go.

Avoid eating one hour before going to swim. Additionally avoid eating while you are in the pool. Do not chew a chewing gum while in water because this increases the risk of drowning.

Avoid swimming in the night, especially in areas that you do not know well. The lack of light can make you lose your orientation and miscalculate your distance from the shore.

In areas that there are water sports, apply the rules given by the lifeguards. Keep the safety distances from boats and other watercrafts.

Alcohol use is involved in about 25% to 50% of adolescent and adult deaths associated with water recreation. Alcohol influences balance, coordination, and judgment, and its effects are heightened by sun exposure and heat.

Among children ages 1 to 4 years, most drownings occur in residential swimming pools. Most young children who drowned in pools were last seen in the home, had been out of sight less than five minutes, and were in the care of one or both parents at the time.

Males account for more than 75% of drownings. Drowning remains the second-leading cause of injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14 years.

For every child who drowns, three receive emergency department care for non-fatal submersion injuries. More than 40% of these children require hospitalization. Nonfatal incidents can cause brain damage that result in long-term disabilities ranging from memory problems and learning disabilities to the permanent loss of basic functioning (i.e. permanent vegetative state).

It is your responsibility to supervise your children and their friends if they are together. Children's games in the pool or the sea carry risks of injuries or drowning. Therefore under these circumstances you should have a clear visual field to watch them and do only this.

It should be emphasized that people, adults, adolescents and children, can have fun outdoors, while still protecting their skin from the sun, by choosing five sun protection options: seeking shade, covering up, getting a hat, wearing sunglasses, and rubbing on sunscreen.

Tips for preventing boat injuries and deaths:

1. Wear your life jacket while boating.
   Capsizings or falls overboard lead to deaths because of drowning during recreational boating
    
2. Life jacket use by all boat occupants can reduce drownings.
    
3. Avoid alcoholic beverages while boating.
   Alcohol use affects judgment, vision, balance, and coordination. Data show that in fatalities involving alcohol use, over half of the victims capsized their boat and/or fell overboard. Additionally, more than one-third of all fatalities resulting from a collision involved alcohol use.
    
4. Complete a boating education course.
   Approximately 70% of reported incidents involve operator controllable factors. The primary causes of incidents are operator inattention, carelessness or recklessness, inexperience, unsafe speeds, and failure of the operator or passenger-“lookout” to identify hazards.
   
   Boating education courses teach the regulatory and statutory rules (for the safe operation and navigation of recreational boats. The majority of all boating fatalities occur on boats where the boat operator had not attended a boating safety education course.
    
5. Vessel safety check
   Check your vessel by appropriate professionals, know well your safety and other equipment, be aware of applicable regulations and safety procedures. collect all necessary relevant information
    
6. Be aware of the risk of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning
    
   All internal combustion engines emit CO, an odorless, colorless, poisonous gas. In the early stages, the symptoms of CO poisoning are similar to seasickness and CO can kill in a matter of minutes.
   
   Significant CO poisoning potential can include the use of air conditioning powered by an onboard motor generator; operation of any gasoline powered engine while docked and/or rafted with other boats operating engines; or being underway with improper cabin ventilation.
   
   To avoid CO poisoning, be aware of the risk, ensure sufficient ventilation, properly install and maintain equipment, and utilize CO detectors, especially in living and sleeping areas.

Summer is a holiday time, plenty of pleasure and recreation. It is up to us by taking all measures necessary and with responsibility to safeguard ourselves and our family from unnecessary perils.

 
Bibliography:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Safety Council