Another Line Of Defense For Your Pool

The kids are splashing and playing in the pool and the adults are busy seeing to it that everyone is safe. We notice this time of year that many folks have “flown the coop” for vacations and such.

We had a situation where a nearby home with a pool was vacated for a time. The pool is screened in and one of the kids wandered away to do some “kid research”. Curious about all that was out of his “regular world”, he proceeded to find a way right through the screening. Now, mind you, a properly built screen room meets the building code when it comes to the state requirements. That didn’t help this young man.

The little guy went missing for only a moment when the adults began a frantic search for him. They called for him. They ran around the backyard and into neighboring yards to find their “little lost lamb”. Well, they found him and they weren’t very happy when they saw where this little guy ended up.

He was in this screened in pool area pushing a chair up to the FENCE that SURROUNDS the pool at this part time residence. I said “SURROUNDS” the pool because many times customers don’t surround the pool with fencing. Sometimes it’s just not feasible to fence the entire the pool. In this instance, it was really not very feasible, but everyone involved is very glad this homeowner took the best way out.

The little boy was red faced as he got caught exploring this new world. He got a little scolding for going out of bounds. And he got a great big hug from his parents because he was safe and not as they might have imagined him in the two minutes that seemed like an eternity to them. He’s healthy, he’s safe and an accident was prevented by this silly little thing called a pool fence. This fence was installed before the state required it to be so. This homeowner doesn’t yet know about the lifesaving effects of their decision, but they soon will. And every time they see their little neighbor smile, when he goes off to school, gets married and has a family of his own, these folks will remember that one smart decision helped change an awful lot of lives that day.

And thanks to all of you Pool Guard distributors, for doing what you guys do. You DO make a difference.

An Ounce Of Prevention - Swimming Pool Fences

This is the story of a friend of mine, whose child drowned a few years ago after his birthday party. The parents had finished the party and locked the doors, which were also equipped with alarms. The child's aunt went outside to cook a hamburger on the barbeque. She opened the doors, disarmed the alarms and began to barbeque. She forgot to close the door when she went inside and the child went outside to the swimming pool and fell in. Fortunately, he was able to be revived and today shows no signs of permanent brain damage; however he went through months of intensive therapy. Years later the aunt continues to see a psychologist and continues in therapy because she feels responsible for the accident. This is a near drowning which easily could have been avoided by the homeowner installing a swimming pool safety fence around the swimming pool. A pool fence would have prevented the baby from accidentally falling into the water. Nothing prevents accidents like a swimming pool barrier.

From Ana Hernandez, Pool Guard of Miami/Dade:

Two months ago we installed a swimming pool fence at the home of a critical care nurse for Miami Childrens Hospital in Dade County, Florida. She told me, and I was surprised to learn, that every week, and more often in the summer, at least one child in Dade County, Florida is admitted to the trauma center at Miami Childrens Hospital due to either a drowning or a near drowning. Many of these cases are reported by the news services. Miami is a swimming pool prevalent area and a swimming pool barrier fence would prevent so many of these tragic drownings and near drownings. This critical care nurse told me that she would never consider moving into her new home without Pool Guard installing a pool safety fence at her swimming pool.

Water Safety Tips from California's Consumnes Fire Department

The Fire Department in Cosumnes, California has provided several tips to insure that your children are safe this summer while near water:

• Designate an adult to keep thier eyes on the water and the kids during social gatherings.
• Learn CPR. Every second counts in an emergency.
• Know which friends and neighbors have swimming pools. Make sure your child will be supervised by an adult when visiting their pool.
• Install pool fencing around home swimming pools.
• Don't rely on pool alarms and pool covers as primary pool safety equipment. They should be used along with pool fencing and supervison.
• Children can drown in as little as 1 inch of water. Wading pools, bathtubs, buckets, diaper pails, toilets, spas and hot tubs can be dangerous.
• Avoid playing around pool drains as these can be dangerous with or without a cover. Long hair can become tangled in filtering hardware.
• Borrow a life jacket. Some of the local fire houses have them available to loan in adult and child sizes for free.

Pool Guard Pool Fence Distributors in California:

• Pool Guard of San Diego
• Pool Guard of Orange County
• Pool Guard of the Inland Empire
• Pool Guard of Sacramento
• Pool Guard of Northern California
• Pool Guard of Bakersfield, California
• Pool Guard of the Bay Area
• Pool Guard of Greater Sacramento and Northern California
• Pool Guard if Ventua / Santa Barbara
• Pool Guard of Los Angeles
  

Pool Safety Bill Encourages States To Adopt Pool Safety Laws

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz has introduced a new bill designed to put pool safety fences around all swimming pools, hot tubs and whirlpools. Her main purspose of this proposed legislation is to raise the nation's awareness of pool safety.

U.S. Rep. Wasserman Schultz became alarmed by the number of pool drowning deaths when she served in the Florida Legislature. She pushed through a state law in Florida that required all new residential swimming pools to be built with one of four safety features:

• Pool barrier fence
• Pool cover, such as a pool net
• Exit alarms on all doors or windows with pool access
• Self-closing, self latching pool gates

Pool Guard was behind this particular piece of pool safety legislation when it was first proposed in Florida. Pool Guard also supports the new legislation to require pool safety fences around all swimming pools, hot tubs and whirlpools. With over 600 swimming pool drowning deaths for children under age 4 in Florida, we know all too well that the best way to prevent a pool drowning is to provide additional layers of protection such as a pool fence.