Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 through 4, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Two suburban Chicago groups are hoping to battle that statistic — but not with your average swim class.
“Even though we think about water safety when the weather warms up, it is something we need to be thinking about every day,” said Ashleigh Bullivant with Infant Swimming Resource.
May is National Water Safety Month, highlighting the dangerous reality that many families have faced.
“Almost 70 percent of toddler drownings is during non-swim time, when supervision is not there because it is nap time or they are watching Daniel Tiger on TV …and they go to the water alone,” said Liz Huber, founder of the CAST Water Safety Foundation.
That’s why Huber said CAST and Infant Swimming Resource decided to take a new approach for prevention.
“So what we do here is give them the skills to survive if they fall into the water,” she told NBC Chicago.
Unlike typical swim lessons, the focus on this program is on safety and self-rescue.
“They do learn to swim a short distance with eyes closed, propel in the water, but above all else – they learn to find a floating position and rest and breathe in that float,” Huber said.
The private, 10-minute lessons are done in short increments, often over a six-week period.
“Every time I see a child roll back and float by themselves for the first time, I get a lump in my throat,” Bullivant said. “I am still so in awe of what they can learn. You can never get sick of a child learning to help themselves for when they might need it most.”
For other safety measures, Johns Hopkins Medical Center recommends parents take the following precautions to help prevent drownings in young children:
Never leave your child unsupervised near water at or in the home, or around any body of water, including a swimming pool of any size or depth. Learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and infant and child first aid. Don’t rely on personal flotation devices (PFDs) or swimming lessons to protect your child. Install childproof fencing around swimming pools. The fencing should be at least 4 feet high and have a self-closing latch that is out of the reach of children. Give your child swim lessons at the earliest age they can handle such lessons. Make sure you have rescue equipment, a phone, and emergency phone numbers near the swimming pool. Insist that your child wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal flotation device on boats at all times. Don’t allow children to dive in shallow or unfamiliar waters. Always have children enter water feet-first. Diving in shallow water can cause permanent physical disabilities or death.Hence then, the article about suburban groups change how they teach kids water safety with new kind of swim class was published today ( ) and is available on NBC Chicago ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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