Health officials discuss importance of knowing safe swimming tips for summer
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — With school out and summer beginning, the heat has been drawing thousands of people to beaches, pools and lakes. Although it’s the perfect time to swim, experts say it’s the best time to emphasize swimming safety.
According to the Louisiana Department of Health, the number of drowning deaths has rapidly decreased by 40% but it’s still the third leading cause of death.
Dr. Gina Lagarde, of LDH, says a drowning incident doesn’t take long. She also advises that adults learn how to swim which as well can help avoid this type of incident.
“It doesn’t take much for a young child to drown, it takes minutes,” said Lagarde.
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“The strongest adult swimmers can drown in water just as easy as those that don’t know how to swim.”
Shelly Rogers, CEO of Crawfish Swim School, says that one factor that plays into drowning incidents is not enough adult supervision.
“Most of the drownings happen with a parent within 20 feet,” said Rogers.
A lot of the time drownings can have very little to no sound, so Rogers says many adults in the area of the situation may not hear when a child is in distress.
“It’s very silent and it can happen very, very quickly. So, you want to make sure that you’re very diligent in watching your child at all times,” Rogers said.
With weather experts saying that hurricane season this year will be a lot stronger, Lagarde says swimming in oceans may be a lot tougher.
“The strongest of swimmers can be caught in a rip tide or an undercurrent. That undertone that can pull you on,” Lagarde said.
Rogers says that at their swim school, the first thing they teach you is how to breathe under water.
“The main one is blowing bubbles, actually ought to be able to exhale air, because when you exhale air, when your head pops up, you’re able to inhale,” said Rogers.
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Another important safety tip that Rogers say they stress is picking the right bathing suit colors, so that you or your child will be more noticeable in the water.
“You don’t want a suit that’s going to be the color of the pool bottom or a blue. You don’t want a suit that’s very dark. If you’re going to be in open water or a lake or pond where you can’t see it,” said Rogers.
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