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Groups aim to
prevent drownings

Learning to prevent drownings is as easy as knowing your ABCs, local fire officials are saying through a newpool safety website, ABCpoolsafety.org. The website, launched March 10 by the Chino Valley Independent Fire District, targets residential swimming pool safety for parents and caregivers of children younger than 5, said Nancy Kidd, public education specialist for the district. “Nationwide, drowning is the number one killer for children 5 and under,” Ms. Kidd said. “We came up with the idea that if we made this website, any agency in the country can promote it with the idea that it targets pools and spas and parents and caregivers.” The website has a link to a video showing a drowning dramatization, including a message from ChinoValley Fire District firefighter/paramedic Pete Robuck, whose 2-year-old son nearly drowned, Ms. Kidd said. The site also offers links to the American Heart Association for CPR classes and the Chino Valley YMCA for swimming lessons, pool safety facts, and tips for isolation fencing, which the website states is the most effective way to protect a child from drowning in a swimming pool or spa. “Before the website was launched, we worked with the cities of Chino and Chino Hills and the Healthy Chino pro-gram and we developed the basic idea of what information we wanted on the website,” Ms. Kidd said. “In addition,this drowning prevention program has handouts available at fire district headquarters and we are also handing out our water watcher tags.” Water watcher tags are supposed to be worn by someone responsible to watch over the pool while it is in use, Ms. Kidd said. The ABCs of pool safety are simple, Ms. Kidd said, and iffollowed could prevent a drowning.

Ais for “AdultSupervision”:
•Assign an adult to supervise children in and around the swimming pool and spa. This is important even when numerous adults are present,such as during a family eventor party.
•Maintain constant eye-to-eye supervision with children in and around the swimming pool and spa.
•Remove children from the swimming pool and spa area for any distraction such as a telephone call, use of restroom, etc.
•Issue the adult supervisor atoken of office, such as a whis-tle, bracelet, etc.
•Do not substitute inflatabletoys or “floaties” for adultsupervision.
•Maintain an unobstructedview (no trees, bushes or otherobstacles) from the home to theswimming pool and spa.
•Ensure any adult responsible for the children knows the emergency services telephone number and also your location address in the event emergency personnel need to be called.

B is for Barriers:
•Ensure your fence enclosure isolates the pool and spa from the home, play areas, front and side yards and the neighbor’s yard.
•Make sure all gates in the isolation fence are self-closing and self-latching.
•Install multiple layers of barriers isolating the pool and spa, such as pool covers, locks,self-closing and self-latchingdoors and gates with latches too high for a child to reach, or gate alarms.
•Remove or retain within the fenced area all chairs,tables, large toys or other objects that would allow a child to climb up to reach thegate latch or to climb over the isolation fence.

C is for Classes:
•Learn how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation(CPR).
•See CPR Awareness Video on this website; or use the link on this website to the American Heart Association to sign up for a CPR class or to purchase an at-home training kit.
•Enroll your child in swimming lessons.
•Use the link on this website to the YMCA to find a location for swimming lessons near you or contact your city recreation department.

Vacant homes As the number of foreclosed homes rises, city officials in both Chino and Chino Hills are aware that pools at vacant homes may not be secure. There have been no problems so far in the Chino Valley, but Ms. Kidd said if residents are aware a neighbor has moved and there is a pool at that home, inform city officials so they can ensure the pool area is secure.“ The city is very concerned with that problem. They could go out there and make it secure, especially if there is an open fence,” Ms. Kidd said. Chino residents may call 627-7577 and Chino Hills residents may call 364-2600. For information on pool safe-ty, call Chino Valley Independent Fire District at 902-5260 or visit :chinovalleyfire.org.

• New website targeting the parents of children under 5 years of age and residential swimming Pool Safety
  
  
• Educational message is the ABC's of Pool Safety - Adult Supervision, Barriers and Classes
  
  
• Includes dramatization, testimonies, ABC's of Pool Safety, CPR Awareness training, and much more