Water Safety Goes International

With summer fast approaching, we are all aware of the the risks involved with water play. According to the NY State Department of Health, drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1-4.  In addition, 9 out of 10 drowning deaths happen when a caregiver is supervising but not paying attention. 

As local consultants for a group of au pairs from Cultural Care Au Pair, my coworker, Kathleen Leviness and I wanted to make sure that our international au pairs understood and were prepared for those risks as well.  Our au pairs are from all over the world, countries like Mexico, Australia, Germany, Sweden and Costa Rica and they have varying levels of water knowledge.  They all have children that they are responsible for and while all their host families do not have pools, Long Island merits caution when dealing with water risks. 

Enter Saf-T-Swim in Commack. They gave our au pairs a water safety lesson to help ensure their charges would remain safe while in their care.  This program is designed  by the Long Island Drowning Prevention Task Force.  There is no cost for this class because the Task Force's goal is to reach as many parents and caregivers as possible to provide booklets and water safety educational classes.

The girls were exposed to many statistics, including the fact that most infants under the age of 1 drown in a toilet, sink, bathtub or buckets with as little as 2 inches of water.  Another crucial point the instructors  Mike Holdorf and Bobby Hazen made was that drowning is a silent event.  Unlike the image of flailing and sputtering the mainstream media have portrayed drowning produces no sound.

They gave the au pairs many useful tips such as:  designate a water watcher that is not distracted by phones, books or other people to only watch the water.  They advised them to NEVER leave children unattended for any amount of time ever. Another well made point they made was that if a child is missing, check the pool first, instead of wasting time looking elsewhere.  

Mike and Bobby also reviewed the safety elements required around a pool, including alarms, gates, shepherd's hooks and self latching locks.  They  reminded the au pairs to cover and empty any standing water left around in a bucket or toy.

If for some reason, the worst case scenario took place they gave the girls an action plan.  They instructed the au pairs that they could use CPR even if not trained using the CAB method. C is for compressions (push hard and fast on the center of the chest 30 times, A is for Airway (tilt victim's head and lift chin to open airway) B is for breathing (2 mouth to mouth rescue breaths).

This class enabled our au pairs to come away with a better grasp of  water safety and how to prevent a tragedy from happening.  Marge from Mexico said  "my confidence is higher. I already know CPR but I learned a lot with this program that I know will make me more alert around water with my kids." 

 We were really excited to see this class is open to any caregiver free of charge. They even throw in a goodie bag with floaties for the kids. For more information about The Water Safety, Water Smart program through Saf T Swim in Commack call Mike Holdorf or Bobby Hazen at  631-462-9696.  To find out about host an au pair from Cultural Care Au Pair with an average cost of 355 a week regardless of how many children you have, call Tania Morris at 631-266- 6272.