Water safety tips as we head into summer

Summer water safety

Florida leads the nation in drowning deaths of children four years old and younger and that’s why water safety is so important.

TAMPA - Memorial Day weekend is here, kicking off the unofficial start to summer.

Why you should care:

For many, that means more time at the pool and the beach. Florida is surrounded by water, and that’s even more of a reason, experts say, to get your children into swim lessons early. Florida leads the nation in drowning deaths of children four-years-old or younger.

Hillsborough County teamed up with Tampa, Temple Terrace, Plant City and the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County for Safe Pools Day Tampa Bay Friday.

Code enforcement officers from each jurisdiction visited condominiums, apartment complexes and other common-area pools to make sure they met safety standards, including those outlined in the Hillsborough County Code.

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"Year round, we are checking pools, especially if they’re reported to us, but, you know, school is out in a week, so we’re trying to get ready for the summer," Joe Gross, Director of Code Enforcement for Hillsborough County, said.

"Last summer, we had the hurricanes and a lot of fences got compromised, so we are hopeful that while we're looking at the public pools, which are going to be visiting apartment complexes, townhomes, subdivisions, we're hoping people take a minute to go around their own perimeter and make sure their grounds are safe and secure," Gross said.

They’ll also look for appropriate fencing, signage, drain covers, sanitation and more. Violations can result in citations and fines, but code enforcement officers are focused on education and compliance, county officials said.

What they're saying:

"Today is awareness, reminding everybody, ‘hey, summer has officially begun. It's hot. People are going to want to go in the pool, but we want them to do that voluntarily, not to have some tragedy happen, because the pool wasn't secure," Gross said. "It’s probably one of the most important things that code enforcement is involved in is life and public safety," he said.

May is Water Safety month, and the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County also gave tips for water safety Friday and how to prevent pool injuries and drownings. According to the Florida Department of Children and Families, more than 100 children died from drowning in Florida last year.

"Install two barriers in the home," Dexter Lewis, Director of Public Relations for the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County, said. "A door alarm and a pool fence really can save a life this weekend. Make sure you know where your kids are at all times, and then we want to make sure that parents enroll their kids into swimming lessons. Swimming lessons reduce the risk of drowning by 88 percent," Lewis said.

Lewis said the Children’s Board is offering free children’s swim lessons in Brandon for kids three to 18-years-old through its partnership with High 5, Inc. It’s eight swimming lessons at no cost throughout the summer.

"We also did learn, unfortunately, that there were five accidental deaths last year due to drowning, according to the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner, and that's 112 child deaths in the last 11 years. But the good news is that it is a 100 percent preventable child death if you take a couple of those tips away," Lewis said.

"Have fun in the pool, and if you have a little one, make sure that you're actually in the pool with them. And then, if you're at a pool party with a lot of kids and families, make sure you designate a water watcher," Lewis said.

Along with signing your children up for swim lessons, local officials say they want you to add pool safety to your hurricane safety check list, especially if you have to evacuate to a home with a pool.

"If you're evacuating the area, we want to make sure that the pool, if there's a pool at the home, that that pool also has a pool fence. Making sure if you have a child that's autistic, if there’s ponds and rivers, they're actually more drawn to water. And children, all it takes is as little as one inch of water for them to drown. So, that's pet bowls, that's toilets. So, making sure you drain the kid pool, all of those standing bodies of water around that you have control over, make sure that there's no water in there, because it can be tragic," Lewis said.

The Source: FOX 13's Kailey Tracy gathered the information for this story.

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