NSPI, the National Spa & Pool Institute, has been both a champion and pioneer of pool safety over the years. The Gus & Goldie campaign of fun safety education of school age children, large library of safety publications, and articles such as Layers of  Protection further their contributions.

LAYERS OF PROTECTION

Supervision is always your primary layer of protection, but as the study shows, 69 percent of the drowning incidents occurred when parental supervision failed and there were not other "backup layers" in use.

1. Access doors to the pool area with high locks are a secondary layer of protection.
2. Alarms on access doors is another layer of protection.
3. A pool safety barrier (fence) separating the pool from your home and all access doors and entrances is one more layer of protection.
4. Water survival training for a child when he is capable of crawling or walking to the pool.
5. CPR and your knowledge of rescue techniques are a final layer of protection should there be an accident.

The goal, with instituted layers of protection, is to come as close to a "fail safe" system of preventing drowning incidents as possible. Meaning that if there is a momentary lapse of supervision for whatever reason, we have several backup systems in place. We have "Layers" of protection.

All must fail before a drowning can take place. A door has been left unlocked or open, the alarm system or device for the door has been turned off, the pool safety barrier has been left open, your child does enter the water, panics and does not attempt to utilize survival swim training, CPR is administered too late to save the child.

THERE CAN BE NO COMPROMISE ON POOL SAFETY. YOU ARE DEALING, LITERALLY, WITH A LIFE AND DEATH SITUATION.

Set down definite pool rules covering its use and more importantly, when it is not in use. We all have a tendency to give a little leeway on this or that with our children, but not when it comes to the pool.

Any door leading to the pool area should be kept locked.  

Even if your home is equipped with an alarm system that will beep when perimeter doors are opened, install simple contact alarms on the more often used doors as a further safeguard. Pool Guard makes an excellent alarm designed strictly for access doors to the pool area. This type of alarm must have the button pushed whenever the door is opened and has a delay feature to keep if from sounding off for seven seconds for entering from the inside. It is particularly useful if you have older children who open doors to the pool area. Sliding glass doors should be locked at the top in addition to other locks. In two thirds of the drowning cases studied where children were thought to be in the home, sliding glass doors were either left open or opened by the toddler.

If you own a pool this is a must! Install a protective safety barrier or pool fence that will eliminate access to the pool for young children and pets.

Floating pool alarm devices with remote alarms sounding in the home can alert you to a child falling into the pool. The pool surface, however, must be disturbed enough by the fall so as to set off the alarm. Since these alarms do work off a disturbance to the surface of the pool; your child could quietly walk down the steps, go under, drown, and never disturb the alarm or set it off!!! They are quite inexpensive (around $100) and better than nothing at all since they do detect some accidental falls if adjusted and placed properly. Alarm batteries and function should be checked often to increase the safety margin and effectiveness of this type of device. If this is your choice of protection; be sure the model you purchase has a remote alarm that will sound in the house and a local alarm that will also alert someone near the pool area.

Another type of alarm on the market is designed to detect motion in the pool area with an infrared beam. These alarms are independent of your burglar alarm systems and are designed to be easily mounted outside without doing electrical work and have a remote alarm in the home that can be plugged into any electrical outlet. Optek is one manufacturer of this type of alarm.

Have your toddler trained for pool survival when he is able to crawl or walk to your pool.  

This is introductory training to the water that is not intended to actually teach him to swim, but more to provide the toddler with the necessary skills to help survive an accidental fall into the pool. He should be taught to negotiate to a wall or steps and know how to get out. His final lesson might include his being knocked unexpectedly into the pool fully clothed. Do not be alarmed, the child's reaction is being monitored to help determine if the lessons have been effective by using this simulated "panic situation". This type of survival training can usually be very effective after just a week of daily lessons. From our own experience with both methods and other parents we have spoken with, this method is considerably less traumatic than other methods.

Another method of water survival training is to teach the child to roll over and float on his back. It also is effective and has been taught successfully for many years. Be certain that he is also taught how to get to the side of the pool and hang on or get out in addition to learning to roll over and float.

You can determine which method will best suit your needs and the situation.

All types of survival swim instruction must be reintroduced to the toddler after a period of not being in the pool; as in over the winter months.

Whichever way you go, do not be lulled into thinking that your child can have open access to the pool area. Remember, this is just one layer of protection.

Every layer of protection possible must be in force at all times or the system is compromised.

If you have read or been told that your child cannot be taught water survival until age three because he is incapable of learning at an earlier age, might get ear infections, that it "leads to a false sense of security for the parent", or that such training is ineffective "because 55 percent of toddlers who drown had received survival swim training," please think for yourself!

Your child can be taught survival swimming and will retain it during water active months with practice.   

If you do not have your child in the water over the winter months, particularly a child under age 3 years, he will require a refresher to "remember" what was learned the summer before. This will usually take only a few days to accomplish and then you can proceed on to have him learn additional techniques or start actual swimming lessons.

Yes, a large percentage of children who have drown did have survival swim training, what the statistics cannot show you is how many have survived a fall into the pool because of this training (many adults who drown could also swim). As to the "false sense of security", most parents will not even leave a toddler alone in a bathtub much less knowingly let their child near the pool unsupervised. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's study revealed that 75 percent of the victims of drowning were among 12 and 35 months of age. For these children, 3 years old will never come.

Take the time to learn CPR and accident procedures. If not your own child, you may be able to save someone else's. Many local hospitals have programs for this type of training.

Do not leave a toddler or young children in the pool or pool area without adult supervision. Older children are not always as sensitive to the dangers of drowning when it applies to others.

A mother told us that she was scolding an older brother (6 years old), as she snatched her coughing 18 months old out of the pool where he had walked off the steps while she was away for a moment. His answer was innocent "But I could see his eyes were open and he wasn't crying." Hope the point has been made.

Never go into the house to answer the telephone and leave a child unattended in the pool area. Numerous drowning incidents are associated with the answering of a telephone in the house while the pool was in use by children.

A telephone installed at the pool area or the presence of a remote unit, on the other hand, could prove to be an invaluable aid in the event of an accident.

Do not leave objects in the pool that could attract your child. Children who would not normally go near a pool because of fear may not even think about the water if they are in pursuit of a favorite toy in the pool.

"Staging platforms", such as tables and chairs, should not be kept near the pool fence.

Allowing the pool area to be used as a play area is as bad as letting young children play in a busy street or with poisonous chemicals. Isolating the pool area to be used for swimming only is the most essential concept of drowning prevention.

If you miss your child always check the pool first, even if access is thought to be restricted, then look elsewhere.

In a drowning accident seconds can make the difference between death, recovery, or just survival.

KEEP THEM SAFE AND PLAY BY THE RULES

SWIMMING POOL FENCING

Removable safety fencing has proven, over the past thirty years, to be the most practical and effective barrier against pool drowning short of putting up a permanent rail fence.

The concept is simple. Isolate the pool from your home and eliminate all access to the water by a toddler. For the pool to be truly isolated and the barriers serve effectively, there must not be a reason to open the pool fence other than to use or service the pool itself. That means not having to open the pool fence to go out a screen enclosure door or into your backyard. These areas should be accessible to you without opening the swimming pool fence. The more times a fence is opened, for a reason other than to use the pool, the greater the possibility that it will be left open for whatever reason.

Pool fence is constructed of see through, polyester mesh mounted on aluminum or fiberglass support poles. The fence is placed into aluminum or plastic sleeves installed into your deck surface. The bottom border of the fence material should be flush to your deck so as to prevent a child from pushing under. The basic principal that keeps pool fence in place is bilateral tension and the fence should be checked periodically to insure that you have benefit of its full function.

A standard pool fence is removable in approximately twelve foot sections. Each section can easily be rolled up and weighs only eleven pounds. The average one hundred foot fence can be removed in less than fifteen minutes and be put back up in approximately the same amount of time. Most fences, however, are never taken down until children in the home are old enough not to require this safe guard any longer.

Having a party with young children present? Think twice about removing the fence. Family gatherings and social affairs contribute to distraction and drowning accidents involving young children. So that the pool fence does not have to be removed for day to day use of the pool, a "gate" section is provided at the steps or another convenient location. A pool fence "gate" is formed by two connecting sections that can be opened by an adult. Extra sleeves are placed into the deck at this point to act as pole holders when the "gate" is open.

SELF-CLOSING, SELF-LOCKING GATES: Self-closing, self-latching gates are  automatic and provide better protection if there are folks in the house that can't remember to close a gate behind them. Because it does not have to be physically closed or locked by the user it is a more practical option when there are older children in the home who have unsupervised access to the swimming pool . A self-closing gate and its lock are mechanical devices located outside and subject to corrosion, wear from use, misalignment, and mechanical failure. Extra care must be taken to insure that the gate is functioning properly. Be sure that your gate is always installed to swing out or away from the pool or water.  

How high should your pool fence be? Pool fence ranges from 3 1/2 feet to 5 feet high. For an average toddler we recommend you look at the 4 foot height. A child capable of climbing a 4 foot high fence will most likely also be able to go over 5 feet. It's just a longer fall down the other side. A child with this kind of capability should already be well into a swimming program.

We talk to parents moving into a home with a pool for the first time who are nervous about a six year old around the pool accidentally falling in. Since a six year old can go over any height fence and the fence is being installed to basically keep them from just falling into the pool by accident, we would recommend a shorter height like 3 1/2 feet as long as this is the only child in the household.

How far apart should the fence support poles be? Support poles provide both tension and strength for the fence, so the less distance apart the better. We normally recommend 30 inches as a standard if you are making any turns with the fence at all. For straight runs, like across a patio, 36 inch pole spacing should be adequate.

What mesh material is best? The majority of pool fence manufacturers today use polyester mesh with vinyl coating. It is a continuous basket weave construction and is the strongest method today for manufacturing pool fence. The smooth vinyl coatings are mildew resistant and allow easy cleaning of the finished product, unlike the grainy finishes of older style dipped interlocking nylon products that had a tendency to trap both growths and dirt. The newer polyester meshes are also much more resistant to punctures and are virtually impossible for even an adult to rip.

Should the mesh be bordered? To be a finished product your pool fence mesh should also be bordered on all four sides with vinyl border. Not only does this provide a finished look to your fence but also prevents unraveling of the mesh itself. Check the border material to insure that it has visible reinforcing built into the vinyl to provide additional strength to the fence and eliminate sagging over time.

Remember, the fence should block off all access from the home to the pool. Half way measures here are like playing "Russian Roulette". The only time the fence should be opened is when you are using the pool. Children learn quickly to operate door locks and open doors that have not been locked. Your last layer of protection to the pool should be your pool fence.

Do not forget your "fail safe" minimum of five layers of protection against drowning. 

Adult supervision, locked doors, perimeter door alarms, the pool fence, and swimming lessons. All five must fail before your child can drown in your pool.