Safety tips for home pools
From 2017 to 2019, an average of 389 children younger than 15 years drowned each year in a pool or spa in the United States. Two-thirds of the drownings occurred in pools or spas in residential settings rather than public locations. Seventy-three percent involved children younger than 5 years of age.
Thousands more children are hospitalized with brain damage or other injuries due to accidents in home swimming pools or spas. From 2019 through 2021, there were an average of 6,300 pool- or spa-related, nonfatal drownings of children younger than 15 years treated in hospital emergency departments each year. Eighty percent of these involved children younger than 5 years of age.
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This is particularly tragic because most of these accidents could have been prevented with a few simple steps.
Read on to learn how to make your home swimming pool safe, but most importantly: always supervise your child any time they’re in or near the water.
Install a pool safety fence
If you have a pool or spa in your yard, you need to keep a child from entering the area unsupervised. Multiple barriers are the best way to prevent childhood drowning, and the most important barrier is fencing.
Fencing around a pool should:
- Be a minimum of 4 feet high with no gaps wider than 4 inches
- Have four sides. According to the American Red Cross, four-sided fencing that separates the pool area from the house and yard reduces a child’s risk of drowning by 83 percent compared to three-sided fences that run along the property line.
- Be unclimbable. Chain link isn’t best, but if chain link is used, the links should be 1 ¾ inches or smaller.
- Have no more than 4 inches of space between vertical slats if the fence is slatted
- Be latched. The latches should be self-closing and self-latching. The gates should open out, away from the pool area. And the latch should be out of the child’s reach – at least 54 inches from the ground. The gate should be locked whenever the pool isn’t in use.
- Be no more than 4 inches above a solid ground surface. If the surface is non-solid (such as grass or gravel), the clearance should be 2 inches or less.
Above-ground pools need barriers, too. A fence is preferred, but sometimes a barrier can be mounted onto the top of the pool structure, around the perimeter (if the pool is high enough). Make sure access to the top is blocked (a child can’t climb to the top of the pool or access it via steps, for example).
Use a pool cover
For another layer of protection, in addition to a fence, you can cover the pool with a rigid, motorized cover, available from pool supply companies. (Don’t use a cover in place of fencing. Unlike covers, which are often left open for extended periods of time, fences are always there.)
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If you use a cover, make sure it’s well maintained, and keep the control device out of the reach of children. Keep water from collecting on top of the cover. Even a small puddle of water poses a drowning hazard to young children. Also make sure that the cover completely covers the pool, so a child can’t slip under it.
Set up a pool alarm
There are several things you can do to become alerted if your child is headed for – or in – the pool unsupervised.
- Consider installing a pool alarm system, available at pool supply companies. These will detect and alert you to movement in the water.
- Equip all doors and windows that have access to the pool area with an alarm that sounds when they’re opened.
- Purchase a wristband for your child that sounds an alarm when it gets wet.
- Set your alarm system (if you have one in your home), on “chime.” This means the alarm system will make a chime sound if anyone opens a perimeter door or window and alert you if your child tries to get out. If you’re not sure whether your alarm system has this feature, ask your alarm company.
No matter what kind of alarm system you have for your pool or home, don’t let your guard down. Even the best alarm is no substitute for a fence, latches, and — most of all — vigilance. Never let a young child go near a pool or spa without close adult supervision.
Secure the house
Most drownings among children age 4 and under happen when the child leaves their own home (out a door, window, or pet door) and falls into a pool that isn’t fenced off from the house. A quarter happen at the homes of friends, relatives, or neighbors.
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Inside your home, add latches and locks to any doors and windows that lead outside. Get in the habit of using these latches and locks at all times, and ask your houseguests to do the same.
Consider door alarms on all doors and windows that have access to the pool area.
Other tips
- To protect against a child getting caught in a drain, install anti-entrapment drain covers and safety release systems.
- Be sure to remove steps, ladders, or anything else (such as lawn furniture) that can be used for access to an above-ground pool when an adult isn’t supervising the pool.
- Don’t have a pet or doggy door if it leads to a pool area (or an area where a child can access water).
- Have your pool inspected regularly by a professional for entrapment or entanglement hazards to make sure the pool safety cover is working properly, etc.
- Keep life rings, floats, and/or a reaching pole available near the pool in case of an emergency.
- Make sure you know what to do in the event of a water emergency. Learn CPR for babies and children, and keep emergency numbers on hand.
- If a child is missing, check the pool right away.
- Have children get out of the pool right away if there’s lightning.
- Put away all toys when pool play is over so that your child doesn’t try to retrieve a toy from the pool.
Safety tips for a blow-up pool
Blow-up pools seem harmless – and they’re fun – but they easily contain enough water to be dangerous. (A child can drown in just an inch or two of water.) If a child leans against the soft side of the inflatable pool, they can easily fall in.
Parents often use these pools without considering the same safety measures – fences, alarms, covers, and supervision – that they do for more permanent pools.
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To keep yours safe:
- Empty and put away portable blow-up pools when not in use.
- Provide fencing around portable pools that are unattended.
- Tell neighbors that you have a pool in your yard.
- Cover larger portable pools.
- Put access ladders away when not in use with adult supervision.
- Clean out the pool by rinsing it with fresh water – and letting air dry – every day. Small inflatable or plastic kiddie pools can’t be treated with disinfectants like larger pools can, which means germs can easily spread. The CDC provides directions for cleaning and disinfecting a pool if a child poops or vomits in itOpens a new window.
- Store the pool upside down or standing up so that it doesn’t collect water.
How can I teach my child to stay safe around our pool?
Talk with your child about the importance of following safety rules for the pool. The most important of these is to never go near the pool without an adult. Others:
- No running in the pool area.
- No diving in the pool (unless there’s a designated, deep area for older children).
- Put away all pool toys away after playing in the pool.
- Don’t roughhouse in the pool. Never hold someone’s head under water, and don’t play breath-holding games.
- Stay away from drains and other openings.
- Don’t pee in the pool.
Also teach your older child how to safely help if they see someone struggling in the water.
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Should I give my child swimming lessons?
Swimming is an important life skill. The AAP and The American Red Cross both recommend that every member of the family learn to swim, as a water safety precaution.
While children may enjoy the pool – and get confident in the water – when they’re still babies, they can start mastering swimming skills when they’re around 4 years old and build more advanced skills at age 5 or 6 years.
Choose a program with experienced, qualified instructors, and watch a class beforehand to see if it’s a good fit for your child.
Learn more:
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