How to Enjoy Summer Water Activities Safely: Avoiding Hypoxic Brain Injury

With summer right around the corner and May being National Water Safety Month, we thought it would be a great opportunity to impress the importance of water safety for our patients and followers.

Each year, between 3,000 and 4,000 people die from drowning, while another 5,000 children under the age of 14 are hospitalized due to near drownings, of them, nearly 20% suffer lasting severe brain damage.

The following tips could help save you or someone you love from a drowning or near drowning  situation:

• Enroll your infant or toddler into the Infant Swimming Resource's Self-Rescue® program
• Only swim in designated areas under the supervision of a lifeguard
• Teach your child to ask before going near a body of water
• Teach your child basic water safety tips
• Never leave a child unattended near a body of water–even the shallow end of a pool (or kiddie pool) can pose a risk
• Inexperienced swimmers should wear floatation devices until they’re competent
• You should teach your children to swim, regardless of your vicinity to a body of water
• If you own a pool, make sure it’s surrounded by a fence–even if you don’t have children, your neighbors might
• You should also install alarms on the gates used to access the pool area
• Make sure to keep rescue equipment poolside
• Remain vigilant when supervising a swimming child
• If a child is missing, check the water first. Seconds matter when dealing with someone who might be drowning
• Be sure to have a cell phone nearby in case emergency services must be reached
• Floatation devices are NOT substitutes for supervision
• Learn and become certified in administering CPR

By following the aforementioned tips, you can help to dramatically reduce the likeliness of you or a loved one drowning or experience a near drowning. But even if you take extra caution and observe all of these tips, accidents can still occur. If your child experiences a near drowning incident, contact Plasticity Brain Centers for their best chance at full recovery. We’re well acquainted with hypoxic brain injury, and have the tools needed to get your child back to living life to its full potential.

Sources:

http://www.nationalwatersafetymonth.org/

http://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/water-safety/swim-safety

https://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/water-safety/waterinjuries-factsheet.html

http://www.aquaticisf.org/facts.htm