Precautions for Keeping Afloat

A 2-year-old boy slips away from his grandmother as she chats with a neighbor, tumbles into a swimming pool and drowns in Brea.

A 2-year-old boy in Santa Ana, who had Down syndrome, drowns in his family’s backyard pool.

A 15-year-old boy, pulled unconscious from the swimming pool at Hollywood High, dies a few days later at Childrens Hospital.

A 12-year-old Los Angeles girl who had taken a day trip to Manhattan Beach is presumed drowned after she was hit by a wave and caught in a rip current a short distance from shore.

All of these incidents happened in the last three months alone. In fact, 13 drownings and three near-drownings have been reported in newspapers since June.

So whether you’re headed to the beach, bay, public or private pool, it is important to know the necessary precautions for keeping afloat because the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has some disturbing statistics:

* Drowning is the third-leading cause of death for children 1 to 4 nationwide and the second-leading cause of accidental death for people 5 to 44. And in California, Florida and Hawaii, drowning is the leading cause of injury-related death for people younger than 15.

* Drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional injuries to children.

* Males drown at a much higher rate than females, about 5 to 1.

So be sure to swim with a partner, keep a constant eye on children anywhere near the water and be aware of the environment. And here’s some more advice from the experts:

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The Ocean

It’s summer, it’s hot and the beach is the place to be. A record 60 million people visited Los Angeles County beaches last summer, according to county lifeguard Scott Davey (that’s the same number of people who visited all of the state parks combined last year). And, Davey said, L.A. County lifeguards also made a record 14,000 rescues in 1998.

While at the beach, Davey says, ask the lifeguard about ocean conditions before plunging in. He or she will direct you to the best place to swim. Swim near a manned lifeguard tower.

Orange cones in the water designate the area for swimmers only. So if you’re not on a surfboard and don’t want one near you, make sure to swim between the orange cones.

These swim areas are the least likely to have rip currents, which occur when the water digs out holes in the ocean floor. When this happens, a stream of water in that area will flow in the opposite direction of the shore. If you try to swim in to shore, you will be swimming against this current and will probably make no progress, get pushed out farther away from shore and get extremely tired.

In fact, Davey says, 80% of the rescues at L.A. County beaches result from swimmers caught in rip currents. Davey advises that swimmers caught in such currents swim parallel to the shore and get out of the current rather than struggling to make a beeline to shore, and most of all, don’t panic. A person can float for hours.

Avoid swimming by jetties and piers, cautions Davey, where rip currents are common and structures and barnacles pose other threats. Other safety tips Davey recommends include:

* Wear swimming attire rather than regular clothes, which tend to weigh people down in the water.

* Don’t dive in the water head-first because you never know the exact depth of the water or what lies below you.

* Face the waves as you swim out so that you know how big they are.

* If you are caught tumbling in the water, hold your breath and cover your face.

And as for eating and swimming, Davey says, “It’s really an old wives tale about not swimming after you eat. . . . Of course, if it’s five hamburgers, that’s another story.”

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The Bay

Mark Boone, chief of the Long Beach Fire and Lifeguard Department, says accidents in the bay happen because people overestimate their swimming ability.

Unlike in the ocean, people are more likely to encounter a change in the water--a hole--and fall face first into the water. Boone says the most common type of rescue for Long Beach guards is the “pickup rescue,” when a guard walks into the water to upright a fallen person.

For people of all ages going for a swim in the bay, it is important to swim parallel to the shore, rather than away from it, in case fatigue sets in. It is also much easier to rescue someone who has remained close to shore.

Boone’s other safety tips for swimming in bays:

* Call your local parks and recreation department to find out about swim lessons for toddlers and children.

* If a lifeguard is assisting you or someone else, respect the lifeguard’s experience.

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The Pool

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, each year nationwide, more than 300 children younger than 5 drown in residential swimming pools, usually a pool at the child’s home. And consider these facts:

* At the time of the incidents, most victims were being supervised by one or both parents and 69% of the children were not expected to be at or in the pool, yet they were found in the water.

* Pool submersions involving children happen quickly. A child can drown in the time it takes to answer a telephone. Seventy-seven percent of the victims were missing from sight for five minutes or less.

Wayne Westling, director of five aquatic facilities in south Orange County and head coach for the Aliso Niguel High School surf team, says that when parents take their kids to a public pool, they should read the rules.

“Most good facilities have a set of rules that can prevent a lot of accidents,” he said. “A responsible person should go over the rules with their child to make sure that they understand them and not just assume the child will read the sign.”

Westling says he has seen his share of abrasions but has had only two accidents that require medical care in his 28 years of teaching, coaching and directing swim facilities. Safety, he says, is the key.

With private pools, Westling says, make sure there is a locked gate around the pool. If you own a pool, everyone (including housekeepers, nannies, etc.) should be certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid. CPR certification is available in most cities from the local American Heart Assn. or from the parks and recreation department. Westling also recommends hiring a certified lifeguard when planning a pool party.

He suggests that kids start to learn to swim by age 3, but if you own a pool or Jacuzzi, the age can be lowered to 2 because swimming skills can be reinforced year-round.

“Swimming is one of the greatest activities for both fun and fitness,” Westling says, “but it is one where you need to be concerned the entire time your children are around a pool or the ocean.”

Andrea Metzker is an assistant professor of kinesiology at Cal Poly Pomona and has been teaching swimming for 15 years.