Have you ever tried to get a swim cap on a child? Not so easy, is it? My video will show you how to do it in about 2 seconds.

Want to know how to get that cap on in a nanosecond? My video will show you how to do that too.

“It’s a must-see! Action-packed from beginning to end! The cinematography and editing are superb!”

– The Swimmywood Reporter

I now present to you how to get a swim cap on a child in under 2 seconds.

Today’s Water Safety Tips

• Never swim alone and especially don’t let your child swim alone.
• And always stay within arms reach of your child when swimming.

The other day, I was swimming laps. Alone. I know, I admit it, I don’t practice what I preach. It’s just not practical to have my husband sit there and watch me, to make sure I’m okay.

So there I am swimming laps. Feeling good, getting some exercise when suddenly I inhaled a tiny little bit of water. This happened smack in the middle of the deep end. I couldn’t stop coughing. It was uncontrollable. I struggled to get to the wall. It wasn’t easy.

I knew I was going to make it but wow! That was a whole lot harder than I ever could have imagined.

I always tell my students to float on their backs whenever they need to breathe or rest.

In my case, back floating or even swimming on my back wasn’t an option. The coughing was so out of control that it would’ve been impossible to maintain a supine position.

After I recovered from my near-drowning experience. Kidding. I thought about how impossible it would’ve been for a child to make it to the wall.

A child would not have been able to make it. Drowning is silent and the struggle to remain on the surface of the water will only last from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.

It will go unnoticed if no one is actively watching.

To avoid the unspeakable from happening, learn the CIRCLE OF DROWNING PREVENTION.

The complete CIRCLE OF DROWNING PREVENTION presented by the American Red Cross:

LINKS IN THE CIRCLE

1. First of all, provide close and constant attention to children you are supervising in or near water.
2. And fence pools and spas with adequate barriers, including four-sided fencing.
3. Also, learn swimming and water safety survival skills.
4. In addition, children, inexperienced swimmers, and boaters should wear U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets.
5. Finally, always swim in a lifeguarded area.

If you have any thoughts on the subject or experiences that you would like to share, I would love to hear from you.

Love the water but fence it in, so
Tessa Swim cap on a child

P.S. Get the FREE water safety app to help ensure your family stays safe in, on and around the water. It includes kid-friendly videos and quizzes. Search the iTunes app store for Swim by American Red Cross or click here. For Google Play you can use the same search parameters or click here. It provides the latest in water safety guidance to help ensure your family stays safe in, on and around the water.

P.P.S. To start your child on the path to becoming water safe, click here.

Student(s) Spotlight

Autumn water safety tips for adults

In the middle of a swim lesson the other day, one of my students asked me, “Would you like to ask me about my day?”

Okay, first of all, she’s 2. What?! I know, right.

Secondly, that’s a 9-word sentence. She has no business constructing a 9-word sentence.

And finally what impressed me more than the sheer length of the sentence was just how sophisticated it was. I mean isn’t that the kind of question you ask your spouse?

Mark water safety tips for adults

“THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL!” exclaimed 4-year-old Mark after I demonstrated bobbing for him.

Apparently, I executed the bobbing sequence with such exquisite precision that he found it impossible to contain his enthusiasm.

I didn’t realize I was so talented in that department. Thanks for thumbs up, Mark!

In the News + Water Safety Tips

On March 18th firefighters and paramedics responded to a drowning and a near drowning within 30 minutes of each other.

The first drowning occurred in a hot tub in Rancho Mirage. There are no details except that the victim was elderly.

A Scripps Howard study reveals that one American drowns nearly every day in a bathtub, hot tub or spa. It’s usually alcohol or drug related and happens disproportionately more in western states.

Also more than half of all tub deaths are among non-disabled people between the ages of 5 and 64.

And the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) declares that for persons with seizure disorders, drowning is the most common cause of unintentional injury death, with the bathtub as the site of highest drowning risk.

The second near-drowning incident took place at the Palm Desert Aquatic Center. The victim suffered a medical emergency while swimming. The lifeguards pulled him out of the pool and were administering CPR when first responders arrived.

He was transported to the hospital and is in critical condition as of March 18th.

According to the CDC, drowning can happen even in the presence of lifeguards.

CDC Tips to help you stay safe in the water. For complete details click here:

• Supervise When in or Around Water. Designate a responsible adult to watch young children while in the bath and all children swimming or playing in or around water even if lifeguards are present.
• Always swim with a buddy. Select swimming sites that have lifeguards when possible.
• Seizure Disorder Safety. If you or a family member has a seizure disorder, provide one-on-one supervision around water, Consider taking showers. Wear life jackets when boating.
• Learn to Swim. However, even when children have had formal swimming lessons, constant, careful supervision when children are in the water, and barriers, such as pool fencing to prevent unsupervised access, are still important.
• Learn Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). In the time it takes for paramedics to arrive, your CPR skills could save someone’s life.
• Air-Filled or Foam Toys are not safety devices. These toys are not life jackets and are not designed to keep swimmers safe.
• Avoid Alcohol. Avoid drinking alcohol before or during swimming, boating, or water skiing. Do not drink alcohol while supervising children.
• Don’t let swimmers hyperventilate before swimming underwater or try to hold their breath for long periods of time. This can cause them to pass out (sometimes called “hypoxic blackout” or “shallow water blackout”) and drown.
• Know how to prevent recreational water illnesses. For more information about illnesses from recreational water, click here.
• Know the local weather conditions and forecast before swimming or boating. Strong winds and thunderstorms with lightning strikes are dangerous.

The most significant takeaways from today’s newsletter:

• First of all never swim alone. water safety tips for adults
• Secondly, avoid alcohol when supervising children.
• Also, avoid alcohol while relaxing in any tub or spa.
• Always swim in a lifeguarded area.
• And last but not least, choose the shower vs. bath if afflicted with a seizure disorder.

If you have any thoughts on the subject or experiences that you would like to share, I would love to hear from you.

Love the water but fence it in, water safety tips for adults
Tessa water safety tips for adults

P.S. Get the FREE water safety app to help ensure your family stays safe in, on and around the water. It includes kid-friendly videos and quizzes. Search the iTunes app store for Swim by American Red Cross or click here. For Google Play you can use the same search parameters or click here. It provides the latest in water safety guidance to help ensure your family stays safe in, on and around the water.

P.P.S. To start your child on the path to becoming water safe, click here. water safety tips for adults

My son, Ethan landed a new part-time job recently. He’s a deckhand for The Aquabus (a ferry service for Vancouver’s waterfront). Way to go Ethan! self-rescue

And here’s something else to celebrate.

Three and a half year old Caiden passed the ultimate self-rescue challenge. Which means that he now has the life-saving skills that allow him to self-rescue if he ever fell into a pool fully clothed. Way to go Caiden!

Are you and your family equipped with the skills to self-rescue?

A National Survey found that nearly half of Americans (46 percent) report that they have had an experience in the water where they were afraid they might drown. In addition, one in five (19 percent) said they knew someone who had drowned, and 20 percent knew someone who nearly drowned.

So to keep you and your family safe around water. Make sure to:

• Always swim in a lifeguarded area.
• And always swim with a buddy, never swim alone.
• Learn swimming, self-rescue, and other water safety survival skills.
• Provide close and constant attention to children you are supervising in or near water.
• Children, inexperienced swimmers, and boaters should wear U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets.
• Provide adequate barriers around swimming pools, spas, and landscape water features.
• Also, know what to do in an emergency. If a child is missing, check the water first.
• And know when to call 911 and have easy access to reaching or throwing equipment, a cell phone, life jackets and a first aid kit.

And last but not least, if you don’t know how to swim, be sure to enroll yourself in swim lessons now so that you will be able to rescue your child in case of an accidental submersion.

This grandfather died — along with his 4-year-old granddaughter — while he was attempting to save the young girl from drowning in a backyard pool.

You need to learn to swim before your child. Not the other way around.

If you have any thoughts on the subject or experiences that you would like to share, I would love to hear from you.

Love the water but fence it in,
Tessa

P.S. Get the FREE water safety app to help ensure your family stays safe in, on and around the water. It includes kid-friendly videos and quizzes. Search the iTunes app store for Swim by American Red Cross or click here. For Google Play you can use the same search parameters or click here. It provides the latest in water safety guidance to help ensure your family stays safe in, on and around the water.

P.P.S. To start your child on the path to becoming water safe, click here.

Burrrrr, it’s cold. It’s been chilly here in the desert lately. Probably not planning on taking a plunge in your backyard pool anytime soon. But if you’re planning on a remodel of an existing or construction of a new pool, check out the new law. swimming pool safety act

There’s an update to the swimming pool safety act effective January 1, 2018.

You may or may not remember an email that I sent a little over a year ago about the residential swimming pool safety act of California. If you want to read it, click here.

And here’s a little refresher. Upon the issuance of a building permit for construction of a new swimming pool or spa, or the remodeling of an existing pool or spa, at a private, single-family home, the pool or spa is required to be equipped with at least one of 7 drowning prevention safety features.

The safety features include a variety of barriers, pool covers, alarms, etc. For the complete list click here.

So in other words when you find yourself in the position of a swimming pool construction or remodel, and you have to choose one drowning prevention safety feature, it doesn’t even have to be a fence. AAAAHHHHH!!!!

A perfectly maintained climb-resistant mesh fence with a self-closing and self-latching gate is the best defense against drowning.

But it also shouldn’t be the only safety feature in place. The more layers of protection, the better.

Appropriately I decided to take it upon myself to try to change the law so that a fence or barrier is mandatory. It didn’t go well for me. Let’s just say; I got nowhere with it.

But when advocates approached Senator Josh Newman who represents Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino Counties with their personal stories, this is what Senator Newman had to say:

“When the families of victims came to me with ways to improve the outdated pool safety act, and thereby prevent others from experiencing the tragedies they had endured through the drowning or near-drowning of a child, I was moved to act. Residential pool drownings can be prevented, and SB 442 will go far toward reducing the pain and costs associated with pool drownings.”

“Requiring an additional safety feature on residential pools will significantly reduce incidents of drowning and drowning-related injuries. I commend and thank Governor Brown for signing this bill.”

The new swimming pool safety act as of January 2018 requires two drowning prevention safety features now instead of just the one.

And let me just preface by saying that it’s an improvement but still not good enough in my opinion, since you still don’t have to choose a fence. A FENCE HAS TO BE A REQUIREMENT!!! I TELL YOU, IT JUST HAS TO BE!!!! It’s the only way to make a real impact on the incidents of drowning.

Now I present to you the new requirements in short form. For the complete version click here:

When a building permit is issued for the construction of a new swimming pool or spa or the remodeling of an existing swimming pool or spa at a private single-family home, the respective swimming pool or spa shall be equipped with at least two of the following seven drowning prevention safety features:

1. An enclosure that isolates the swimming pool or spa from the private single-family home.
2. Removable mesh fencing with a gate that is self-closing and self-latching and can accommodate a key lockable device.
3. An approved safety pool cover.
4. Exit alarms on the private single-family home’s doors that provide direct access to the swimming pool or spa.
5. A self-closing, self-latching device with a release mechanism placed no lower than 54 inches above the floor on the private single-family home’s doors providing direct access to the swimming pool or spa.
6. An alarm that, when placed in a swimming pool or spa, will sound upon detection of accidental or unauthorized entrance into the water, which includes surface motion, pressure, sonar, laser, and infrared type alarms.
7. Other means of protection, if the degree of protection afforded is equal to or greater than that afforded by any of the features set forth above.

My thoughts on the new swimming pool safety act.

So as you can see, you still don’t have to install a fence if you don’t want to. AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!

How can they not make a fence mandatory? It’s reckless and irresponsible. Drowning is the number one cause of accidental death for children under the age of five. And most of these drownings happen in backyard pools.

Imagine for a moment if you will where we live in a world where automobiles don’t include any safety features.

And you, the buyer is required by law to purchase at least two out of seven safety features for your shiny new vehicle. You would have to be out of your mind not to select seatbelts as one of the safety features.

A pool fence is like the seatbelt for your pool. It is entirely without a doubt the very best way to prevent drowning.

Again, if you ever find yourself in the position of having to choose two safety features for your pool, please select the fence as option number one.

And as I noted above, make sure that it is a perfectly maintained climb-resistant mesh fence with a self-closing and self-latching gate that always closes and latches.

The more safety features in place, the better because nothing is 100% effective.

So if one device fails you have multiple backups, since…

• Gates can be left open
• Alarms can fail
• Children can find ways to get under the pool cover and
• These twin girls were found in the water on top of a pool cover that had standing water from recent storms.

If you choose a pool cover as one of your safety features, I beg of you to also fence in your pool.

Let’s transport ourselves back to that parallel universe where cars don’t include any safety features.

Would you really just opt in for the minimum safety requirements to satisfy the lawmakers? I doubt it, especially if you have children. You would do everything in your power to make sure that your vehicle was jam-packed with every safety feature known to man. So why not do the same for your pool?

What if when you opened your back door, you stepped out onto a busy highway. Would you put up a fence then? Of course, you would.

Your pool is just as dangerous as a busy highway with cars zipping by at 80 mph.

Remember drowning is the number one cause of accidental death for children under the age of five, not traffic incidents.

To recap: so

• First of all, make the fence your number one priority.
• Also if you choose a safety pool cover, without exception, install a fence.
• And last but not least, choose multiple or all layers of protection to ensure that you never have to experience the nightmare of the loss of a child.

If you have any thoughts on the subject or experiences that you would like to share, I would love to hear from you.

Love the water but fence it in, swimming pool safety act
Tessa swimming pool safety act

P.S. Get the FREE water safety app to help ensure your family stays safe in, on and around the water. It includes kid-friendly videos and quizzes. Search the iTunes app store for Swim by American Red Cross or click here. For Google Play you can use the same search parameters or click here. It provides the latest in water safety guidance to help ensure your family stays safe in, on and around the water.

P.P.S. To start your child on the path to becoming water safe, click here.