Summertime Safety Tips
Whether taking a trip to the beach or relaxing by the pool at home, it’s important for parents not to take a break from safety during the summer months. Summer is the most dangerous time of year for children – nearly half of all unintentional injury-related deaths among children occur during the summer.
The following information provided courtesy of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI) and the City of Venice Fire Department. Also visit Florida Safe Pools at: www.flsafepools.com for more valuable information.
Have a safe and enjoyable summer!
Water Safety
- Never leave a child unobserved around water. Your eyes must be on the child at all times. Adult supervision is recommended.
- Know which of your child’s friends and neighbors have pools. Make sure your child will be supervised by an adult while visiting.
- Install fencing at least five feet high with self-latching gates. The fence should completely surround all pools, spas, whirlpools and hot tubs.
- Children and inexperienced swimmers should take precautions, such as wearing a U.S. Coast Guard approved personal floatation device (PFD) when around the water.
- Enroll children in swimming lessons taught by qualified instructors when they are ready. Contact your local YMCA. If you don’t know how to swim, enroll with your kids!
- Set water safety rules for the whole family based on swimming abilities.
- Learn CPR and insist that babysitters, grandparents and others who care for your child know CPR.
- Children with marginal mobility should not be left unattended in a tub or other body of water regardless of age or presumed ability.
- Drink plenty of water regularly and often even if you do not feel thirsty. Your body needs water to stay cool.
- Pay attention to open water. Be aware of undercurrents, changing waves and undertows when at the ocean or a lake.
Sun Safety Tips
- S- Shadow test. If the shadow is shorter than the child, the sun is at its strongest and most dangerous point.
- U- Ultraviolet sun block with an SPF of 15 or greater should always be used if the child is exposed to sun. Read the label, and know when to reapply.
- N- Now! Protect children from the harmful effects of the sun now.
- Know the ways of the rays! Your children can get a sun burn on a cloudy day just as easily as on a sunny day. A blistering sunburn before the age of 10 will double the likelihood of that child developing skin cancer sometime during their lifetime.
- Sunscreens cannot take the place of protective clothing and should be used together for the best protection.
- Try to keep your children out of the sun between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., when the sun’s ultraviolet rays are the strongest.
- The sun’s rays can penetrate through 3 feet of water. The sun will also reflect off the water and the sand. A beach umbrella is great but may not provide all the protection needed.
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