Summer Water Safety Tips for Your Family

It's summer, and the Lakewood Family YMCA wants to remind you about water safety.

The local Y has more than 200 kids in swim lessons at the moment, and summer is always a dangerous time for drowning in Washington waterways. Here are some tips:

• Children or inexperienced swimmers should ALWAYS wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal floatation device/life jacket when around the water.
• Watch out for the dangerous “too’s” – too tired, too cold, too far from safety, too much sun, too much strenuous activity.
• Set water safety rules for the whole family based on swimming abilities (for example, inexperienced swimmers should stay in water less than chest deep).
• Be knowledgeable of the water environment you are in and its potential hazards, such as deep and shallow areas, currents, depth charges, obstructions and where the entry and exit points are located. The more informed you are, the less likely you are to be injured or killed.
• There are always things you can do to help keep your child safe.
• Always watch kids in and around water.
• Use lifejackets when in or near open bodies of water or when participating in water sport’s.
• Teach kids water safety rules.
• Actively watch children when they are swimming. Don’t leave, even for a moment.
• Teach kids never to swim alone.
• Don’t let kids dive into water less than nine feet deep.
• Know that any child can get in trouble in the water, even if he is wearing a life jacket or has taken swim lessons.