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FAMILY SAFETY TIPS FOR THE SUMMER

Summer time is a wonderful time of year; children and parents look forward to outdoor activities at the pool, lake and beach. Yet accidents can happen if families take a vacation from safety. The good news is that most water tragedies can be prevented, if everyone remembers the basic rules of water safety.

Swimming Safety

• Learn to swim. The best thing anyone can do to stay safe in and around the water is learning to swim. Always swim with a buddy; never swim alone.
• Swim in supervised areas only.
• Obey all rules and posted signs.
• Watch out for the "dangerous too's" -- too tired, too cold, too far from safety, too much sun, too much strenuous activity.
• Don’t mix alcohol and swimming. Alcohol impairs your judgment, balance, and coordination, affects your swimming and diving skills, and reduces your body's ability to stay warm.
• Pay attention to local weather conditions and forecasts. Stop swimming at the first indication of bad weather.
• Know how to prevent, recognize and respond to emergencies.

Beach Safety

• Protect your skin: Sunlight contains 2 kinds of UV rays – UVA increases the risk of skin cancer, skin aging and other skin diseases. UVB causes sunburn and can lead to skin cancer. Limit the amount of direct sunlight you receive, especially between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and wear a sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher.
• Drink plenty of water regularly and often even if you do not feel thirsty. Your body needs water to keep cool. Avoid drinks with alcohol or caffeine in them.
• Watch for signs of heat stroke: Heat stroke is life threatening. The victim’s temperature control system, which produces sweating to cool the body, stops working. The body temperature can rise so high that brain damage and death may result if the body is not cooled quickly.
• Heat stroke signals include hot, red and dry skin; changes in consciousness; rapid, weak pulse; and rapid, shallow breathing. Call 911 and move the person to a cooler place. Quickly cool the body by wrapping wet sheets around the body and fan it. If you have ice or cold packs, place them on each of the victim’s wrists and ankles, in the armpits and on the neck to cool the large blood vessels. Watch for signals of breathing problems and make sure the airway is clear. Keep the person lying down.
• Wear eye protection: Sunglasses are like sunscreen for your eyes and protect against damage from UV rays. Be sure to wear sunglasses that absorb at least 90 percent of UV sunlight.
• Wear foot protection: Many times, people’s feet can get burned from sand or cut from glass in the sand.

Water Safety for Children

• Maintain constant supervision. Watch children around any water environment (pool, stream, lake, tub, toilet – even a bucket of water) no matter what skills your child has acquired and no matter how shallow the water. Contact the Massachusetts Bay Red Cross or your local recreation department to hire a lifeguard for your pool party.
• Don’t rely on substitutes. The use of floatation devices and inflatable toys cannot replace parental supervision. Such devices could suddenly shift position, lose air, or slip out from underneath, leaving the child in a dangerous situation.
• Enroll in a water safety course or Learn To Swim program. Your decision to provide your child with an early aquatic experience is a gift that will have infinite rewards. These courses encourage safe practices.
• Parents should take a CPR course. Knowing these skills can be important around the water and you will expand your capabilities in providing care for your child. Contact your local Red Cross to enroll in a CPR for Infants and Child course.

Hotel Pool Safety Tips

• Know if the pool is guarded by a trained lifeguard whose sole responsibility is to guard the pool. The person that appears to be a lifeguard might be a towel attendant or a drink server.
• Never leave a child unsupervised around the pool.
• Know the layout of the pool, including which areas are deep, which are shallow, and where the entry and exit points are.
• Know and follow posted pool rules -- and make certain everyone in the family knows and follows them.
• Set pool rules for your own family based on your children’s abilities (such as, non-swimmers should stay in water less than chest deep).

To enroll in Disaster Preparedness, First Aid and CPR courses or for more information on staying safe, call the American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay at 617-375-0700 or visit https://bostonredcross.org.