Drowning is the leading cause of death from unintentional injury among children ages 1 to 4 years old, but drowning is 100 percent preventable. The Dell Children’s Drowning Prevention and Water Safety Program serves the Greater Austin area with a goal of reducing fatal and nonfatal drownings among children.
Current Program Initiatives
- Increase access to prevention resources in the community, such as life jackets and swimming lessons
- Amplify water safety messaging
- Collaborate with community partners
- Monitor drowning risks and statistics
- Evaluate prevention efforts in our community
- Assess statewide and local policies
Drowning prevention requires multiple layers of protection
- water safety education
- swimming lessons
- barriers to pools, such as fences with self-latching gates
- alarms on pools and on doors and windows leading to pools
- wearing U.S. Coast Guard approved life jackets
- constant, active supervision in or near water
- learning basic water rescue skills and CPR
Whether it’s a trip to the beach, a day at the lake, or a dip in your neighborhood pool, make sure everyone stays safe in the water by following a few basic safety tips.
Water Safety Tips
- When your child is swimming, give him or her your full attention and constant visual supervision
- Put away your phones to prevent distraction when around water
- Teach children to swim and learn to swim yourself
- Make sure kids learn these five essential water safety skills:
- Step or jump into water over one’s head and return to the surface
- Tread water for one minute
- Turn around in a full circle and find an exit from the pool
- Swim 25 yards to exit the water
- Be able to exit the water. If in a pool, exit without using the ladder
- When in any type of water, toddlers and infants should be no more than arm’s length away from their parent or caregiver
- Children should always wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket when on a boat or around open bodies of water. The life jacket should fit snugly and should not be able to be lifted above the ears
- Empty bathtubs, buckets, and kiddie pools immediately after use
- Learn CPR and basic water rescue skills so you are prepared in case of an emergency
Pool Safety Tips
- Have a pool at home? Install pool fences, pool alarms, door alarms, and pool safety covers to prevent children from gaining access to the water unsupervised
- Install fences around backyard pools. A pool fence should completely surround the pool, be at least four feet tall and have self-closing, self-latching gates
- Remove all toys from the pool and pool deck once swim time is finished
- Ladders to above ground pools should be removed and/or out of reach for children during non-swimming times
Learn More
- Safe Kids Worldwide – Water Safety at Home
- Safe Kids Worldwide – Swimming Safety
- Safe Kids Worldwide – Boating Safety
- Texas Child Drowning Statistics
- Buckle Up for Water Safety
- Take the Colin’s Hope Water Safety Quiz
- Austin Public Health – Drowning Statistics
Community Partners
- Colin’s Hope – Water safety resources to help prevent drowning
- The ZAC Foundation – Water safety resources and educational materials
- YMCA of Austin – Low-cost swimming lessons
- Simply Safety Store – Low-cost life jackets for infants and children
- Austin-Travis County EMS – CPR courses
- American Red Cross – Central and South Texas Region – CPR and water safety classes
- The Expedition School – Water sport expeditions, workshops and safety training
- Travis County Parks – Swimming resources at Travis County Parks Swimming locations and park information for Travis County
- City of Austin – Aquatic Division – Pools and swimming information for the City of Austin
- Life Jacket Loaner Stations – Map of swimming areas where life jackets are available to borrow
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