Summer is the Time to Remember "Layers of Protection" and Other Tips to Prevent Child Drowning Accidents

Annually 500 children drown in backyard swimming pools and 3,000 suffer serious injuries in "near drowning" incidents.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) June 6, 2007 -- With summer in full swing, healthcare professionals, first responders, and water safety advocates are bracing for a spike in the number of drowning accidents that annually claim the lives of nearly 500 children under the age of five.

The problem is a year-around concern in states like California, Florida, Arizona, and Texas, where drowning is the leading cause of death for children under five and is the second leading cause of death for children under 14. Nationwide, The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that for every child that drowns, six more children are involved in "near-drowning" incidents that can lead to permanent neurological damage, life-long disabilities, and catastrophic medical costs.

"Parents and guardians need to be extra vigilant in protecting children around water hazards," said Todd Appleman, president of www.eSafetyAlert.com, a safety products company that advocates water safety education. "The family swimming pool is supposed to be the center of fun and recreation. The problem is swimming pools are also very dangerous."

"Despite extensive community programs and well-funded national public education campaigns about pool safety, the number of drowning incidents continues to climb at an alarming rate," said Appleman. "Either parents and adults are not getting the message or they are not practicing what they know. We need to be more effective in reaching parents with the messages about active parental supervision and the layers of protection that can help keep children from gaining access to swimming pools."

Layers of Protection

The gap in awareness and lack of action among parents became acutely apparent when www.eSafetyAlert.com, and Terrapin Communications, the company that designed and markets the Safety Turtle pool alarm, commissioned a national Harris Interactive poll. Only 19 percent of the parents were aware that drowning is the leading cause of accidental death among children under five. Even worse, only 41 percent said they had installed one or more layers of protection recommended by the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). The recommended barriers include:

-- A door alarm that sounds when doors leading to the pool area are opened.

-- ASTM standard fences that completely surround the swimming pool.

-- Self-closing access gates that are equipped with child-proof alarms.

-- An automatic or retracting pool safety cover.

-- An ASTM approved pool alarm.

In addition to these layers of protection, parents should never leave children unattended. Drowning is considered a "silent death" and can happen in a matter of seconds. According to many studies, in nearly all drowning incidents, one or more supervising adults were nearby when the child drowned.

About eSafetyAlert.com and Safety Turtle

eSafetyAlert.com is an official reseller of the Safety Turtle alarm. Considered to be the last line of defense, Safety Turtle consists of one AC-powered Base Station that supports one or more Turtle wristbands of the same color which lock snuggly on a child's wrist with a "child-proof" key. If the child falls into the water, the Turtle sensor sends a signal to Base Station which sounds a siren. Additional information about Safety Turtle is available at www.eSafetyAlert.com.

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