Swimming safety info

Check out these sources for information on drowning deaths, swimming safety and swim lesson programs.

Drowning deaths

• About 10 people a day die from unintentional drowning in the U.S.; two of them are children younger than 14

• There were an average of 3,536 fatal unintentional drownings each year from 2005 to 2014

Source: Centers for Disease Control, https://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/water-safety/waterinjuries-factsheet.html

Swimming safety

• Kids should learn to: tread water for one minute without a flotation device, go underwater and return to the surface, tread water in a circle and find a way out of the water, exit a pool without a ladder, swim 25 yards without stopping

• Parents can increase safety by: staying within an arm's length of children while swimming, install 5-foot-tall fencing around pools, learn first aid and CPR, sign up children for swim lessons, hae children wear life jackets instead of floaties

Source: National Safety Council, http://www.nsc.org/learn/safety-knowledge/Pages/safety-at-home-drowning.aspx

Swimming lessons

• YMCA of Metro Chicago, http://www.ymcachicago.org/

• USA Swimming Foundation's Make a Splash initiative, http://www.usaswimming.org/