00:00the school year it's coming to an end there's warmer weather ahead and families are hitting
00:04the beaches and pools but how can you keep your kids safe around the water well here are important
00:10safety tips with annette roland national spokesperson for the american red cross good
00:15morning annette we want to know when it comes to safety in the pool what are some simple rules that
00:19parents should set for their kids hey thanks for having me and this is something that's close to
00:25my heart i have two kids i have a pool at my house and so three of the things that i always
00:29teach them is you never want to swim alone you want to ask for permission from an adult and you
00:36want to swim with an adult don't want to swim alone and if you've got a sibling you may your instinct
00:40may be if you see them drowning but i always say reach or throw don't go in event of emergency you
00:47want to make sure that you're teaching your kids how to throw an object to the person that's in
00:51trouble so they can grab onto that and making sure that they understand that they shouldn't go in
00:56because they could be a victim themselves i love that the reach and throw don't go i feel like
00:59it's easier for kids to remember yeah something that rhymes like that an easy statement how does
01:03the red cross define water competency for kids yeah water competency competency simply means being
01:10water smart having those swimming skills that's helping others in an emergency uh water comedy
01:17water competency for kids that really just means being able to enter the water float tread water
01:23swim for 25 yards and be able to get out of that pool or the water safely and of course a lot of us
01:31spend time in pools but others spend time at the beach which is a little bit of a different ball game so
01:35what should parents watch out for when they're taking kids to the beach where there's waves and all
01:39sorts of different fun activities you're right the beach is a little different so you want to make
01:45sure that you're identifying someone who's paying close attention to children but not only children to
01:50older people that are at the beach even in shallow water uh waves can cause you it'll knock you off
01:55your feet and cause you to lose balance uh so making sure that young children have a properly fitted u.s
02:01coast guard approved life jacket is is imperative but also good current safety those have been
02:07prevalent um here along the gulf so they're responsible for a lot of deaths so if you're caught
02:12in a rip current you want to stay calm don't fight it swim parallel to the shore until you're out of that
02:17current and then you can turn and swim to shore both at the pool and at the beach what are some
02:23ways adults can be ready if a child does get into some trouble in the water yeah if you notice that
02:28you have a child that's in trouble in the water um you want to check the water first right seconds
02:33count seconds count when it comes to preventing death or disability so check the water first if there
02:38is a lifeguard you want to make sure that you alert that lifeguard but you also want to be able to
02:43recognize this recognize the signs of somebody that's in trouble and maybe shouting for help
02:47drowning doesn't look like we see it in the movies all the time it's typically quick and silent so
02:53making sure that you are spotting those signs and remember reach um reach or throw something out to
03:00them tell them to grab it and don't go in after them net roland national spokesperson for the american
03:06red cross thanks again for joining us on accuweather early
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