Child Drowning Prevention - What can we do?
“Swimming lessons are appropriate for consideration as part of a comprehensive drowning prevention strategy,” Duane Alexander, M.D., director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
There is no question that drowning among our nation's youth is a problem that concerns us all. In fact, infant and childhood drowning is now widely considered an epidemic.
Supervision / Aquatic Barriers / Survival Instruction
State and local municipalities are implementing more and more laws that address the safety of children while around aquatic environments; laws focused on residential swimming pools requiring secondary fencing, gate security, and pool entry door locks. Although an estimated 5 to 10 million infants and preschool children participate in formal aquatic instruction programs, only a few infant / toddler aquatic programs attempt to teach aquatic survival skills.
The mission of Child Drowning Prevention is to be a pivotal component in the prevention of infant and child drowning and near-drowning, encompassing all aspects of prevention from supervision to pool barriers and, especially, survival instruction. CDP has enacted the National Registry of Aquatic Instructors to empower parents with instructors qualified to teach their infants to survive in aquatic situations; enabling confidence as they mature to enthusiastically enjoy participation in water related activities.