Backyard pools, practicing being safe rather than sorry

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The dog days of summer are here. School is back in session, but the Arizona weather is still warm enough for lots of outdoor activities and family outings at nearby lakes or rivers. During the upcoming Labor Day weekend, many Maricopa residents will enjoy some family swim time right in their own backyards.

Whether it is a bathtub, a bucket of water or that backyard pool, water always attracts children. Water sources like these can also mean danger.

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Your backyard pool can be a safety issue.

The City of Maricopa is currently using Arizona statutes regarding swimming pool enclosures. State law requires that a home with a pool have a five-foot high fence with self-latching gates.

The installation of self-latching doors and windows is necessary when the home is part of the pool’s enclosure. If there are no children living in the residence under the age of six years, there are no fencing requirements.

Basing fencing requirements on the age of the children living in the home seems to present a problem. Other, younger children may visit, the home may be rented or new babies or toddlers may come into the resident family.

Monday evening, chairman Dave Zaiser and the Planning and Zoning Commission will again be discussing swimming pools. At their August 15 meeting the group favored staying with the state statutes, as well as the use of self-latching doors and windows in homes with pools.

According to Vice-Mayor Brent Murphree, chairman of the Public Safety committee, “The city code includes a section on pools that includes child proof gates and doors but does not require fencing within a fenced yard.”

Murphree added, “The city has not adopted a water safety program. We are currently looking at several programs but have yet to make a recommendation to the council.”

The Grand Canyon Chapter of the American Red Cross has the Water Whiz Kidz program. It includes the following water safety tips.

Supervise children. Adults must provide constant supervision, whether children are in the pool or the bathtub, or around other water hazards. Practice what the Red Cross calls “reach supervision”, being within an arm’s length of the child.

Neither adults nor children should ever swim alone.

Enclose pools, even within a fenced yard. The Red Cross recommends surrounding pools on all sides with a fence at least four feet high. The fence should have no footholds or spaces that a child could crawl through. The fence should have a self-closing, self-locking gate.

Keep toys away from the pool when it is not being used as they attract children’s attentions.

Learn CPR and learn to swim if you plan to be around water. Every adult should know how to swim and be CPR trained, especially if there is a pool in your backyard. Caregivers, grandparents, babysitters, and older children should also have these lifesaving skills.

Red Cross CPR and first aid classes are being offered in Casa Grande on Saturday, August 27. For information or to register, call (800) 842-7349. Fees are $27 to $42.

Keep basic lifesaving equipment at poolside. You should keep a first aid kit, a reaching pole and a ring buoy with a line attached by your pool. Such lifesaving equipment should also be available at community pools.

A phone list with emergency contact numbers and a cordless phone are poolside essentials. A cordless phone allows emergency calls to be made without leaving the immediate area.

Labor Day may signal the end of summer, but swimming season continues in Arizona throughout the year. How many pools are there in your neighborhood? How many children? And, more importantly, how many are safe?