Water Safety Tips for You and Your Family This Summer

Are you planning to go on vacation this summer with your family? Beach areas can be your choice of destination.

Water can be fun to play with and dangerous at the same time. During the summers, children and adults can be drawn to water for recreation. However, water can be deadly when you don’t take safety precaution measures.

To prevent drowning and other water accidents, you can consider learning how to prevent them and respond to such emergencies.

Basic Water Safety Tips

Some of the safety tips you can consider when swimming this summer include:

Avoid Risky Behavior and Dangerous Swimming Locations

With a high percentage of people who drown being male, there has been a debate on what factors influence such statistics. According to the debate, some of the factors that lead to drowning include:

• Diving into shallow or unknown locations
• Drinking alcohol while around water bodies
• Inability to swim
• Swimming in cold places
• Not wearing a life jacket in relatively large water bodies

When swimming in cold water, especially during summer, you might feel relaxed. However, you may stop feeling cold and start being confused. Confusion can lead to drowning. In case of drowning, you should rush the victim to an emergency room near you.

Wear a Life Jacket

When swimming in relatively large water bodies, you can consider wearing a life jacket. However, people are reluctant to wear them as they believe they might be good swimmers. Some of the reasons why some people are reluctant to wear life jackets:

• Boaters who believe that they are good swimmers
• Drinking while boating

When boating and swimming, people tend to wear a life jacket for the following reasons:

• Adults accompanied by children during the events
• Use of inflatable life jackets

With a life jacket, you can stay afloat in the event of a water accident. You can also wear a life jacket if you don’t know how to swim.

Take Swimming Lessons

Swimming lessons can be essential for people who are planning to go on vacation. Without proper swimming abilities, you might be at risk of drowning while participating in water recreation. For swimming lessons, you can ask a lifeguard or enroll in a program.

Be Careful When Hiking

Crossing streams and fording streams can be hazardous. Therefore if you are hiking, you should consider crossing streams using a bridge. You should also be aware of fast-moving rivers and check on your kids and rivers when around them.

Being cautious around rivers can reduce the risk of drowning or getting carried away by fast-moving torrents. In case of an accident, you should consider contacting the nearest emergency room in Houston or other emergency services to reduce the risk of fatalities.

Be Cautious When Swimming in Open Waters

Swimming in open waters can be fun but risky. People swimming in large water bodies such as lakes and seas can be at risk of attacks by carnivores and drowning. Therefore, if you are swimming in open waters, you should be around lifeguards and adults with good swimming abilities.

Response to Drowning and Other Water Accidents

In case one of your friends or family members drowns, a fast response is necessary to reduce the risk of fatalities.
When you manage to rescue a drowning person, you should consider contacting an ER near you for professional management. In case you can’t rescue them, you can notify the lifeguard for help.
First aid for drowning includes the following:

• Take the person out of water
• Check for signs of breathing by looking at chest movements and exhalation by listening closely to their nose
• If the person is not breathing, you can proceed to check for a pulse for at least ten seconds
• In case the person does not have a pulse or has a weak one, you can begin CPR
• Repeat the resuscitation until emergency services arrive

Emergency Medical Care in Houston

Are you looking for an emergency room in 77007? If so, you can consider visiting us at Memorial Heights ER. Our team consists of experienced specialists. Therefore, you can anticipate quality services. For more about response about emergency response and services, you can visit our website or walk into our clinic.