Pool Safety

Calling all parents! Did you know that when children drown they don't make noise? It's called being a silent sinker and when my brother was 7 he drowned. Fortunately enough for us we were able to resuscitate him, but not everyone is so lucky. I don't tell this story often and I still suffer from PTSD because of it, however everyone needs to know about this. I read this article from a news station and it made me appreciate the efforts that they put forth to bring awareness to silent drownings. What you see on TV is not true. Drowning is not loud or raucous. People who know how to swim can drown. My brother's friend drowned when he was 17; he knew how to swim. My brother knew how to swim and there were others at the pool. Here is our story.

We were on vacation as a family for my senior trip. We stayed the night in Los Angeles before heading on to our cruise the next day. The morning of the cruise my brothers wanted to go swimming at the hotel's pool so they and my dad headed down. I got a phone call from my brother for my dad so I headed down to the pool to give him the phone. One of my dad's job sites had been robbed so he was calling to see what he should do. My dad was on the phone with him and turned sideways in his chair so he could hear better. I sat facing the pool while also listening to my dad. Kind of zoning in and out I remember seeing other kids get out of the pool and I remember talking to my brothers who were snorkeling. Then I looked over and my younger brother wasn't in the pool. I asked my other brother where he went and he said he didn't know, but maybe he had gone to the bathroom or was hiding in the greenery around the pool. I started yelling for him since it was time to go and he didn't answer. I had the strongest feeling (without a doubt divine inspiration) that I needed to get up and look for him. I stood up, walked around the right side of the pool and saw him at the bottom. I started yelling, my dad dove in the pool, my brother that was already in the pool went under to get him. I helped my dad pull him out of the pool and he was without a doubt dead. His body was white, no breathing, no pulse, and he was turning blue. My dad performed CPR and nothing happened. While he was doing that I yelled into the lobby for help (my phone landed in the hot tub when my dad chucked it to save my brother) and my brother ran for the emergency phone. After what felt like forever my little brother started to spit out water. My dad continued the CPR until he was responsive again. Finally the firetrucks and ambulances showed up and they whisked him off to the hospital. His oxygen-blood count was low, but other than that there was not permanent damage. Looking back at what happened, none of us heard a thing. Not me next to the pool or my brother who was in the pool. I was at the shallow end and I couldn't even see him at the bottom (he was at about the 5' mark).

Children who drown can also have what is called a second drowning. They will be in the hospital after an incident like this and their lungs will just fill up with liquid. If you ever have an issue with this, take your kid to the doctor/hospital asap!

Here is a link to CPR for children from the Red Cross. CPR on little kids is different than CPR on adults.
Teach your children pool safety in addition to having swim lessons. This will keep you (like me) from being a neurotic basket case. This link, again from the Red Cross, has tips for water safety, at home pool safety, beach safety, etc. PLEASE read it!