Weekends on the Water; Call for Parental Precautions

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Texas Children's Hospital

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HOUSTON, May 21, 1998 -- The holiday weekend calls many of us to take a walk on the wet side. But days on the bay and evenings by the pool can bring a tide of water injuries, especially for children.

When celebrating the Memorial Day weekend, and throughout the summer, parents should be mindful of water hazards and beware of leaving children oceanside, lakeside or poolside while retrieving sodas, checking the grill or opening a door for guests. All too often, parents return from innocent distractions to discover their child has become a drowning victim.

On average, more than 385 children a day drowned or nearly drowned last year, with the majority of the episodes occurring between Memorial Day and Labor Day. And, more drownings are blamed on "temporarily unattended children" than any other cause. Nationally, 70 percent of the preschoolers who drowned were being supervised by one or both parents at the time of drowning.

"In many of the drownings we see, the parent or caretaker was distracted by something seemingly important like a telephone call, and as a result, a child was left alone in the bay, lake, pool or bathtub," said Dr. Joan Shook, chief of emergency medicine at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. "By the time the child was found, a significant amount of time had elapsed."

Parents should never leave children unattended or supervised by siblings near water, even if the children can swim. For young children especially, swimming is merely a play activity and in no way should be regarded as an act of survival.

"It is an illusion that you can teach children to swim before they are capable of learning how to stay out of danger," said Shook. "Developmentally, children are not prepared for the elaborate coordination required to swim until close to age five, about the time they learn to ride a bike."

Even a child who is capable of swimming under normal circumstances may panic when presented with an unexpected situation, such as accidentally failing into a pool or being knocked down by a big wave.

If a parent knows CPR, a child's chance for survival is increased dramatically should an emergency occur. Because a child can drown in seconds and suffer permanent brain damage in less than two minutes of submersion, resuscitation should be attempted immediately.

"The likelihood of permanent disability increases with every second a child is not breathing," said Shook. "So while parents or caregivers are waiting for the paramedics, they should begin CPR. Unlike many other medical problems we battle, drowning is 100 percent preventable if lifesaving measures begin in time."

To help families avoid aquatic accidents, Dr. Shook offers strategies recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics to prevent drownings.

For Infants and children newborn through age 4:

• Never leave children alone in or near any body of water -- including
  
  bathtubs, spas, wading pools or mopping buckets.
• Swimming lessons for children under age 5 will not prevent a drowning and may lead to a false sense of security.
  
  
• Parents should learn CPR and keep a telephone and emergency equipment (such as life preservers and life jackets) near the water.
  
  

For children 5 to 12 years:

• Teach your children to swim. In addition to rules for safe swimming in pools, children need to know safety requirements for swimming in natural bodies of water such as lakes, streams, rivers and oceans.
• Children should use approved flotation devices when on a boat or when playing near a body of water.
• Children need to understand why jumping or diving into water can result in injury.

For adolescents 13 to 19 years:

• In addition to the previous safety tips, teenagers should be counseled about the dangers of substance abuse and swimming, diving and boating.
  
  
• Teenagers should learn CPR.
  
  

Texas Children's Hospital is the primary pediatric teaching and research hospital for Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. A worldwide center of pediatric excellence since 1954, Texas Children's has cared for more than one million children and through its research has developed breakthrough treatments and educational programs across the spectrum of children's healthcare.

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