Pharmacy News: Portable swimming pools, including the increasingly popular, inflatable models, pose serious Risks to young children, Because these pools are inexpensive and easy to assemble, many parents may not consider them as big a risk as in-ground pools, The greatest risks are for children younger than 5 years. Safe Kids has been concerned about the increasing use of backyard pools that are too small for consumers to consider investing in fencing but too large to make them easy to empty and secure safely after each use.

The 94 percent of the children were under 5 and most (56 percent) were boys. In addition, about three-quarters of the deaths took place in the child’s own yard, usually during the summer. More than 40 percent of the drowning occurred when the child was being supervised; 39 percent happened with no adult supervision; and 18 percent were blamed on a lapse of supervision. About 40 percent of the drowning happened in a shallow wading pool.

Children can drown in very small amounts of water. Very young children can drown in a five-gallon bucket with water in the bottom. It only takes a couple of inches and a few minutes. While a variety of safety measures such as alarms and fencing are available for in-ground pools, Parents need to be very watchful when their children are in and around water, including pools, ponds and bathtubs. Also, parents must actively supervise their children.

Safe Kids promotes a pool-safety concept called Lock, Look and Learn:

• LOCK: Erect fencing at least 4 feet high with a self-latching gate and keep it locked at all times unless an adult is present.
• LOOK: Parents and caregivers should watch children in or near the water at all times, and not socialize, read or sleep.
• LEARN: Adults should learn to swim themselves and provide swimming lessons to their children from an early age; they should also know how to respond to emergency use rescue equipment.