For adult swimmers who are healthy, able to swim and are responsible, the swimming pool presents very few safety concerns and can be enjoyed with relative peace of mind. However, whenever there are children and swimming pools, there is always a risk.  Make sure your pool is safe.

Last year, 30 children drowned in pools whilst on holiday.  Toddlers account for over a half of these fatalities. Often the tragedy occurred because the child wandered away from their parents and fell into an unsupervised pool.

In young children, 4-5 years, some drownings happened after the child was last seen playing in or near the water. In many cases parents were unaware of the problem until the child was found in the swimming pool.  Disturbingly, when a child is in trouble they do not cry out for help and wave to be rescued, they often silently disappear under the surface of the water.

To prevent this happening in your family, please take the time to remind yourself of the following items:

• DO make sure you mark the depth of the pool on the side if you let your home to holiday makers.
• DO NOT leave inflatables or floats in the pool tempting children to reach in.
• DO NOT rely on inflatables or swimming aids to keep your children afloat  Never use flotation devices as a substitute for supervision.
• DO supervise the children at all times, particularly when there are distractions, i.e. first thing in the morning, at meal times, when you first arrive or are packing to leave.
• DO learn CPR, make sure you know the phone number for the emergency services and have a mobile phone near the pool.
• DO teach your children to swim but remember, knowing how to swim doesn’t make a child drown-proof.
• DO teach your children NOT to run around the pool or dive in to unknown depths, it is safer to jump in feet first.

In France it is now the law for all pools to be fitted with pool covers, pool alarms and a safety fence with a childproof locked gate and yet still there are fatalities. The best form of security is for at least one adult be responsible for the swimming pool area at all times.

Additional General Pool Safety Tips:
No glassware should be used near the pool. Broken glass at the bottom of the pool is almost impossible to see.
Lightning ?  Get out of the pool !  Water is a marvellous electrical conductor.
No electrical appliances should be used near the pool.

If a child is missing, always look in the pool first.  
Seconds count !
EMERGENCY NUMBER 112