HOUSTON — When facing temperatures that feel like 108 degrees, there's a good chance many of you will find yourselves near a body of water.
It makes sense of course as a simple and effective way to cool yourself down, but there are many things you need to keep in mind if you've brought the kids along.
Rosemary Lengfeld is the district VP with the Houston YMCA and says drowning prevention is one of their strategic initiatives. On Friday, she joined Mayor Sylvester Turner and Council Member Greg Travis as they watched free swim classes hosted at the Trotter YMCA.
All summer long, the YMCA is teaching people of all ages how to swim and ultimately survive. At all 24 Houston YMCA locations, as many as 4,000 students have already signed up for swim lessons.
The Centers for Disease Control says this alone can reduce the risk of drowning by 88 percent.
“That’s why we swim test at the YMCA every day, so the kids have the best sustainability out in the water,” said Lengfeld.
One of the worst things Lengfeld says any parent can do is to overestimate their child's ability to swim. Lengfeld says it's up to parents to watch for signs of exhaustion and in this heat, that won't be hard to find.
Things like confusion, dizziness or a headache should be red flags.
“You’ve got to stay aware around the pool, you’ve got to stay hydrated. We see that all the time. There’s kids where their swimming level will vary from day-to-day,” said Lengfeld.
I know it's hard, but please ignore the phone and pay attention. Better yet, make it a habit for your kids to always ask permission before they swim.
“Then they are always going to stop, look at the parent, make sure that it’s okay to get in and then that supervision starts from there," said Lengfeld.
If you're at a pool party, designate at least one parent to be the watcher. Of course, the more eyes, the better. As tempting as the water may be, more satisfying is knowing everyone will get out safe.
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