Posts by Liz Mangelsdorf

Water Safety for the Whole Family this Memorial Day Weekend

With Memorial Day coming up this weekend, several will be drawn to all types of water whether it is a cool dip to cool off or just to sit around a pool, lake or river and enjoy the day. Water safety is an important consideration, especially when children are involved. According to information released by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) Pool Safely campaign on September 13, 2012, there were 137 instances of children younger than 15 drowning in a pool or spa from Memorial Day to Labor Day this year. The data also included an additional 168 children of that age who required emergency treatment for near-fatal accidents in spas or pools during that same period. This information was compiled from media reports, and figures show that 54 of the 137 drowning’s last summer occurred shortly after the child left the side of an adult in their immediate vicinity, and 31 children drowned despite the presence of other people at the pool. This does not count the number of adults and children in other bodies of water, lakes, rivers and oceans. Children under the age of 5 had the highest percentage and required 911 calls for near-drowning incidents.