Water Safety - Lake/River Edition
Always fun to go out on the river or lake with friends and family! These are natural bodies of water with special considerations to make sure everyone has a fun AND safe time.
Life jackets. Always. Make sure your life jackets meet U.S. Coast Guard requirements and make sure the jacket is the proper size to fit your child.
No diving into the water. Jumping from cliffs or bridges is dangerous due to shallow water, submerged rocks, trees, or many other unseen hazards.
Don’t consider your children to be “drown proof” because you enrolled them in swimming lessons. A child who falls into water unexpectedly may panic and forget learned swimming skills.
Make sure your child can swim a far enough distance to get to shore by themselves if necessary.
Practice hand signals with your child when tubing or skiing so the driver of the boat knows when the person being pulled is okay or needs to stop.
Supervise children closely. Do not read, play cards, talk on the phone, or engage in any other distracting activity while watching children in the water.
Check local weather conditions to make sure there are no thunderstorms or strong winds coming.
If caught in a current, don't fight it; instead, float with it and try to swim to calmer water or the shore at an angle.
Be aware of currents known as “eddy currents” that form around objects like logs or rocks that can pull you under. Do not fight these currents either, but float with it and paddle hard to try to get out.
Make sure your kiddos are wearing sunscreen - they have much more sensitive skin than you!