How to stay safe in the water
There is nothing better, on a hot sunny day, than splashing around in the
water. And there’s no shortage of places to do it when you’re on holiday.
Beaches, rivers, streams, and public baths can all be great places to mess
around if the conditions are right. The majority of larger
hotels have a swimming pool,
and in warmer countries even very
cheap hotels tend to have something resembling one. Because being in
the water is so relaxing and so much fun, we may be more inclined to take
safety risks in the name of enjoyment, and this can lead to some pretty
unfortunate – and often avoidable – accidents.
Aside from being one of the most terrifying types of death that one can
imagine experiencing, drowning is also one of the most common causes of
death among children, especially among the under fives. Toddlers and
children are attracted to water and love to play in it, even in the home.
However, they do not know that water can be an enemy as well as a friend. A
child can drown in only an inch of water within a matter of seconds. Never
leave a child unsupervised in or near water, even for a second!
Among older children, drowning incidents tend to occur more often in open,
unsupervised bodies of water such as quarries and canals. Discourage them
from swimming in these frequently filthy bodies of water by making them
aware of the fatal dangers of swimming unsupervised in water of great and
murky depths.
For their own safety, it’s a good idea to make sure that your children learn
to swim as soon as they are ready, which is usually sometime after the age
of three. Enrol them in classes taught by qualified instructors at a local
pool, and teach them not to jump or dive into shallow water, jump on others,
run, push others under water, or swim during extreme weather such as
lightning storms.
Most of the injuries and fatalities that occur in swimming pools are caused
by diving incidents. Never let
your children dive into water unless an adult is present and can verify that
the water is of a depth of at least five feet. Teach them to keep their
diving simple, and that they are only allowed to do it when a diving board
is present. And whatever you do, don’t let them run and dive!
However, it’s not just children that are at risk in the water. If you intend
to swim, or even if you just intend to supervise your children, it is
imperative that you avoid being intoxicated by alcohol at all costs, as this
greatly increases the risk of drowning or failing to notice a drowning child
in time to save them.
Enjoy your holiday, and stay safe doing so! Try Thomas Cook for cheap holidays
