(By Fire Chief Matt Love) Over the last couple of weeks we have felt the very warm temperatures typically felt in the summer months here in Southwest Florida. These warm temperatures have people looking for a place to cool off and there’s nothing better than a nice cool swimming pool!
As we continue to reach the high temperatures and members of our community begin to utilize swimming pools more often, it is important to remember pool safety to ensure the pool party doesn’t turn tragic. Here are some pool safety Do’s and Don’ts to remember:
Have rules for your pool, ensure everyone knows them and restate them often.
Do’s
- Keep children away from the filter inlet, which can draw your children under water.
- If you have children in your pool, make sure they know how to swim or have them wear protective flotation devices, but don’t rely on these devices to exclusively protect the child.
- Install fencing to keep people out of the pool area without your knowledge.
- Evacuate the pool during a thunderstorm or in the rain.
- Have a cell phone in the pool area and post emergency numbers nearby.
- Collect all toys from the pool at the end of each day so that children don’t wander after them.
- Make sure at least one adult supervisor in the pool area knows CPR.
- Remove anything near a pool’s fence that children could climb on to get into the pool, like tables, chairs, vegetation, or toys.
- When leaving the pool area, make sure all gates, locks, safety covers, and alarms are working properly.
Don’ts
- Don’t allow glass or sharp, breakable items in the pool area.
- Don’t swim alone.
- Don’t leave children unattended in or near the pool area for any reason.
- Don’t allow adults who have been drinking alcohol into the pool area. Alcohol and swimming don’t mix.
- Don’t allow running, diving, pushing, or dunking in your pool.
We know that swimming pools are a very important commodity for people who live in Florida and we hope that everyone enjoys playing in the pool safely during these hot humid days!
Chief Love has been the Fort Myers Beach Fire Chief since 2016. In 2019 he was selected by the Fire Chiefs’ Association of Lee County Florida as Fire Chief of the Year, and in 2020 he was named District Manager of the year for the state of Florida by the FASD. He can be reached at the fire department headquarters at 239- 590-4200