As the weather continues to warm up and families return to recreational water activities, the Florida Department of Health in Orange County is offering a free small device that could help save a child from drowning. Any Orange County resident who has a residential pool with children between the ages of 1 and 12 years old may be eligible to receive free door alarms that can be placed on a door or window leading out to the pool area. The alarms, which alert a parent when a child has opened a door or window, are being provided through a statewide drowning prevention campaign called WaterproofFL while supplies last.
It takes less than thirty second for a child to drown, and Florida leads the nation in drowning deaths in children between the ages of one and four. “Parents and designated water watchers must keep their eyes on the kids at all times. Don’t let your guard down,” said Dr. Kevin Sherin director of the Department of Health in Orange County.
The Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act requires pools built after 2000 to have at least one approved pool safety feature. However, over 90% of Florida’s home swimming pools were built before this act.
The WaterproofFL campaign focuses on three layers of protection, supervision, barriers, and emergency preparedness.
Supervision is the first and most crucial layer of protection, meaning that someone is always actively watching when a child is in the pool.
Barriers mean that a child should never be able to enter the pool area unaccompanied by a guardian. A barrier should physically block a child from the pool.
Emergency preparedness. The moment a child stops breathing there is a small, precious window of time in which resuscitation may occur, but only if someone knows CPR. Knowing how to perform CPR can mean the difference between life and death.
You can help prevent Florida’s children from drowning by implementing the layers of protection and pledging to become a Water Watcher. To receive a Free Door Alarm, contact Karen Johnson at the Florida Department of Health in Orange County at 407-858-1456. For more information on the campaign, go to http://www.waterprooffl.com/.
