Swimming pool drownings are preventable, making it essential for anyone who’s in charge of a pool area to understand how to prevent any age from drowning under their watch. While there has been a focus on improving swimming pool safety, there is still work to be done, as there are still people drowning when swimming in a pool. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, improvements in the physical environment, national, state and local legislation, parental education and community awareness have contributed to an almost 60 percent decrease in the number of drowning deaths.

Pool Drownings

The fact that swimming pool drownings still happen, means there still needs to be a focus on preventing pool drownings. Two of the more common factors involved with fatal pool drownings include a lack of proper supervision and the failure to place any physical barriers around the pool area. While not all pool drownings result in death, non-fatal pool drownings can result in someone experiencing severe damage to their organs and/or brain, causing them long-term health problems. 

Safe Kids Worldwide analyzed 1,466 fatal pool drownings (from 2005 to 2014) and learned that 87% of these drownings happened in private pools, while 13% happened in public pools.

Pool Drownings in Public Settings

Examples of public pools include apartment pools, hotel pools, school pools, city pools, and summer camp pools. Children under the age of 5 tend to be the main victims, as well as anyone who falls into a pool and doesn’t know how to swim, and swimmers who can’t swim in the deep end who accidentally end up in the deeper end of a pool. Parents should never rely on pool lifeguards to watch their children, and instead need to focus on their children at all times when at a public pool. 

Pool Drownings in Private Settings

Many pool drownings occur in backyard swimming pools, with children under the age of 5 also more susceptible to drowning in a private pool. This fact makes supervision by an adult essential anytime someone is swimming in a private pool. It also makes it essential for pool owners to use pool barriers. In order to help prevent pool drownings from happening in private pool settings, adding at least 1 piece of swimming pool safety equipment is crucial. 

The Best Swimming Pool Safety Equipment Options

There are a few different safety equipment options for you to choose from, making it a good idea for you to learn about these different types of pool barriers so you can understand how they can protect your pool area. Below are 2 of the more popular types of pool safety equipment backyard pool owners are choosing to protect their pool area nowadays.

• Swimming Pool Safety Fence. Swimming pool safety fences save lives by preventing anyone from entering a pool area when they’re not supposed to. In order for pool safety fences to work properly, they need to be installed according to their directions, making professional installation a great idea. Since many states have pool safety fence laws that must be followed, looking into your state laws ensures you are following any pool safety laws that are currently in place. 
• Swimming Pool Safety Net. Swimming pool safety nets save lives by preventing anyone from entering a pool when no one is supervising a pool area. Pool safety nets are anchored in place by using fasteners, ensuring that they will always stay in place. This means young ones are always protected from drowning when a safety net is in place, giving parents the peace of mind they both want and need when they have a backyard pool.