Last year, 12 young children drowned in Virginia 鈥� the highest number in six years and four times as many as the previous year, according to health officials.
The Virginia Department of Health wants that to change; it’s launched the to educate parents and caregivers about the dangers and misconceptions of the water.
“The pledge is a promise that folks will make to never leave children unattended when they’re near the water, and to always remain within arm’s reach, especially for our little kiddos,” said Brianna Bill, an environmental health coordinator with Virginia’s health department. “It’s also a promise that folks will designate a ‘water watcher’ every single time kids are in their care, and they are in or near the water.”
It鈥檚 not just supervision that is important, “active supervision” is necessary to prevent drowning 鈥� that watching kids without getting distracted, Bill said.
“We’re not having poolside chats, we’re not reading a book or looking at our phone, and we’re certainly also not getting up to go get something or go to the bathroom,” she said. “So if someone has to go do something else, they’re going to designate another person to be a ‘water watcher.'”
Misconceptions about water safety, drownings
In addition to raising awareness about the need to constantly supervise young swimmers, Bill wants to clear up some misconceptions as well.
One of the most common misconceptions around water safety is that well-intentioned adults think their children are safe because they have water wings, arm floaties, inner tubes or something similar.
“Those things are actually toys,” Bill said.
Parents should look for a U.S. Coast Guard-approved flotation device because they are specially designed to keep your head out of the water, Bill said.
“Folks can go to the nearest outfitter store and look for these life jackets,” Bill said.
If you’re using a life jacket, make sure that it fits the swimmer.
“Because if a life jacket doesn’t fit, it’s not going to work properly,” Bill said.
If you are supervising swimming children, it鈥檚 important to know what to look for.
“Unfortunately, there’s a misconception floating around out there that drowning might be dramatic and loud with lots of splashing and yelling for help, and unfortunately that is not what drowning looks like,” Bill said. “Drowning is usually very quiet, if not silent.”
So, what should people look for?
“When a person’s body understands that it’s about to go under the water, it goes into what we call an instinctive drowning response, and the body is forcing a person to try to push themselves out of the water,” she said. “And what that actually looks like is a person will be in a vertical position, and they might look like they’re climbing a ladder that’s not there.”
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