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Show Drowning is leading cause of accidental infant death in Utah - - -4 r x j J . r '- y. - ' ' - - T X f XXX X m X K : r . . ' X X 1 J L J ; - f- 'V v I i - , , , , I. '- u r l A r v. f j - X - X : ' x- - i i :-x - L ' ? " - K rings. "I don't care if it's the President Presi-dent on the phone," he said, it's not more important than your child's life." Barnett recommends children wear the same bright colored swimming suit each time they're in the water, installing a phone in the pool area, making a clear view of the pool from the house, never assume someone else is watching the child, and hiring only babysitters who can swim and dive into the deepest part of the pool and are proficient in infant CPR. The second line of defense is fencing. "If you have a backyard pool, you've got to have a fence," said Barnett. The fence should be at least four, but preferably six feet high, and should completely enclose the pool. The house should not serve as the fourth side. Fences should be designed as a barrier, not interesting ladders. A mesh material rather than chain link will serve as a better barrier. Gates should be self-closing with the latch on the inside and out of reach of young children. Diving boards and pool slides should be avoided. A self-propelled cleanervacuum will attract children The instructions should be individual in-dividual and last no longer than 10 minutes each. The instructor must be highly trained and knowledgeable, knowl-edgeable, able to answer questions. Currently no laws exist to protect the public from individuals who have no appropriate training related to infants, yet offer "professional services" as "infant swimming instructors. in-structors. ' ' The last item, resuscitation, is not a line of defense since it is after the fact While CPR can sometimes restart a heart that has stopped and circulate blood to some degree, the brain needs well oxygenated blood on an almost constant basis. It takes only three to five minutes for permanent per-manent brain damage to be done. A good infant CPR class can be recommended rec-ommended by a pediatrician. Even the best CPR in the world may not save a hot tub related near-drowning. near-drowning. The major problem with the higher water temperatures in hot tubs and spas is that they create excessive ex-cessive blood pressure inside the head for infants and young children who have fallen in. This can complicate com-plicate CPR efforts. Most hot tubs and spa designs create a turbulence that traps even a blame." "Drowning has been called the accident of affluence," said Barnett. The average drowning victim vic-tim is a blond, blue-eyed, two-year-old boy. The average drowning site is a backyard pool within 1 ,000 feet of his home that has been there for at least five years. "Complacency breeds contempt," he said. The divorce rate for parents whose child has drowned is 90 percent per-cent higher than the already high national divorce rate. Within about six weeks the family will move. Barnett cites an incident that occurred oc-curred last year in Florida. A two-year-old boy, the son of parents who had waited nine years to have a child, drowned in his grandparents' swimming pool under the supervision supervi-sion of his grandmother, who was blind. The father committed suicide within a short time, and the mother cannot be found. Vacations also very often end in tragedy. Thirty percent of the children in the emergency rooms in Orlando who are drowning or near-drowning near-drowning victims are from out of "The average drowning victim is a blond, blue eyed, two-year-old boy" By SARAH HANSEN Life rarely offers a second chance. Even less often does water. Water is an essential element that creates an interesting paradox. Life cannot exist without water, and yet it claims the lives of an estimated 4,000 children under the age of six each year in the United States. Utah is one of the 10 states in which drowning is the most prominent promi-nent cause of accidental death for children under the age of 14. "Water is the most unforgiving environment on earth," said Harvey Barnett, Ph.D., founder of Infant Swimming Research (ISR). "Water doesn't care." Barnett was in Davis County last week to observe the annual SAFE START Survival Swim, held at the Steiner Aquatic Center on Aug. 7. SAFE START is a nationwide public educationawareness program pro-gram concerning infant drowning, sponsored by ISR. SAFE START is an acronym for Supervised And Fenced Environments Swimming Taught And Resuscitation Taught It is for children 6 months to 6 years, depending upon the instructor. instruc-tor. Kristi Nelson of Centerville is one of the three SAFE START instructors in-structors along the Wasatch Front She is an RN at LDS Hospital and is a certified ISR instructor. She teaches an average of 25 children each day in private lessons. "It's just me and the child in the water," she said. At six months, a child is capable of crawling into a pool area and falling fall-ing into the water. Because of this evidenced strength, stamina, and coordination, that infant is also capable of saving himself. The focus for the young infant age group is immediate survival. The baby is taught to roll over onto his back to float, rest and breathe. Older infants and young children are capable of more activity such as walking, running, and riding toys. They are taught the more advanced skills of swimming, floating on their backs and turning over to continue con-tinue swimming. Barnett emphasizes that even with the lessons, no child is ever "drown-proof." "There are four lines of defense that a parent can reasonably be expected to follow,' k he said. - . - That's how SAFE START was formed. The first item is supervision. supervi-sion. Barnett recognizes that it is impossible to watch a child all the time, but precautions can be taken. In Arizona, most drownings occur in the presence of a baby sitter. " It 's not only the parents who will grieve, but the teen will also suffer from it," Barnett said. "I don't believe in the word accident; I believe in the word incident." inci-dent." Most often, the line of supervision supervi-sion breaks down when the phone Drowning is the number one cause of accidental death for children under 14 in Utah. Infant Swimming Research teaches young children the basics of survival in the event of a water- related accident. -' - -i i capable young swimmer out in the . middle, prohibiting him from getting get-ting to the edge and safely out. Spa and hot tub water should be kept at about 85 degrees F when not in use. A very efficient heater that xan also cool the water back down quickly is needed. ISR endorses SAFE START because of its "currency and efficiency." effi-ciency." "It's just like surgery or giving medicine to a child," said Barnett. "It you do it incorrectly, it can cause death." Each ISR instructor is personally trained and educated by Barnett for about a month. In addition, they must fly back to the ISR headquarters head-quarters in Orlando, Fla. annually to attend the Infant Swimming Research Re-search Recertification Symposium. Only one out of every 12 applicants ap-plicants are selected to be instructors. instruc-tors. Most are nurses or public schoolteachers. . . Barnett began ISR over 25 years ago. When he was 18, a chief lifeguard, and a professional surfer, he came home one day to his parents house in Satellite Beach, Fla. to see neighbors wandering around in a daze. Their infant had drowned in three inches of muck in a drainage ditch. He arrived just in time to see the rescue squad put the boy in a body bag. He then watched as the family completely deteriorated. "That's what happens when a child drowns," he said. "Someone is to state. "The problem is one of ignorance ig-norance and stupidity, said Barnett. "Everyone says it won't happen to me. The 4,000 children who drowned means that there are at least 8,000 adults who didn't do the right thing." The 4,000 figure doesn't include the 8,000 to 12,000 near- drowning victims. ISR's goal is to prevent infant drowning by public education and awareness. "We don't just tell them what the problems are, we tell them how to prevent them' said Barnett. "It's easy to say don't do it It's much harder to say this is what you should do." Nelson notes that Davis County has a high concentration of young children, retention ponds, irrigation ditches, and other water sources. "(Drowning) is something that can happen to anyone," she said. "It can happen anytime, anywhere." More information about the program pro-gram can be obtained by calling Kristi at (801) 298-3472. "You can't do everything," said Barnett, "but the first responsibility is to keep the children safe. To see a baby that a few hours ago was running run-ning around like a normal child ready to be an organ donor is something you'll never quite get the perspective of. It's going to be education edu-cation that keeps babies from going into the ground" to the pool and they can easily become entangled in the hose and pulled under. An in-floor cleaning system is the safest. Ladders, swimouts, or built-in steps should be located at each end of the pool and should be made of non-slip materials. Keeping water within three to four inches from the top of the pool will make climbing out easier. Most pool covers are dangerous items. Young children think they can walk on them. Once they are in the water, under the cover, they are trapped out of sight Flotation devices should not be used as a prevention method. The United States Coast Guard requires that the following statement state-ment be made available to all consumers con-sumers of life jackets for children (Regulation Title 33; Chapter 1, Part 1 81 .05). 4 'A child is difficult to float in a safe position because of the distribution of body weight and because a child tends to panic when suddenly in an unfamiliar environment envir-onment "The violent movement of the arms and legs in an attempt to climb out of the water tends to nullify the stability of the PFD (Personal (Per-sonal Flotation Device). An approved ap-proved device will keep a child afloat, but not always in a face up position." The third defense is teaching infants in-fants to swim. Infant swimming lessons have been the subject of much controversy. However, if the child can escape supervision and climb the "unc limb able" fence and find himself alone in the water, his aquatic survival training will be his only hope for survival. Children should not be enrolled in any program before he is at least six months old. Then the program should teach the child how to handle himself in the water before he learns to play in it. The program needs to teach the skills required if the child were to fall in the water fully clothed. The lessons should not include flotation devices or throwing the infant into the water. I Parents should not attempt to teach their own child to float or swim. Too much objectivity is required. |
