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at capella.edu. You're

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listening to Life Kit from

0:19

NPR. Hey,

0:22

everybody. It's Marielle. So I

0:24

feel like one of the joys of life is

0:26

taking a dip in the pool or another body

0:28

of water on a hot summer day. But

0:31

as refreshing and awe-inspiring as water

0:33

can be, we know it

0:36

can also be powerful and dangerous. And

0:38

that's something we all need to take seriously,

0:40

especially if we have kids in our lives.

0:43

Drowning is the number one reason that children 1 to 4

0:45

die. And

0:49

it's the second cause of death for 5 to 14-year-olds. That

0:52

was Shaezak Sonoda, by the way, the founder

0:55

and executive director of No More Under, a

0:57

nonprofit focused on water safety. In

1:00

2018, when her son, Yori, was 3 years

1:03

old, he drowned in a backyard pool.

1:06

And I thought

1:08

I was doing everything right as a mother. And

1:11

once that happened, obviously

1:13

it turned my life upside down.

1:16

And I recognized how many people

1:18

and parents didn't have all of

1:21

the understanding and

1:23

tools to keep

1:25

their children safe. Shaezak

1:27

says one of the things that shocked her

1:29

was how quick and quiet drowning can be.

1:32

I think, initially, you kind of think it's a

1:34

splashing thing. You think it's loud. You

1:36

think you're going to be able to hear it. But

1:39

quick, quiet, and

1:42

when I say quick, it's

1:44

that quick. The

1:46

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it can take as

1:48

little as 20 seconds for a child to drown. Also,

1:52

a lot of the time, when kids drown,

1:54

there are adults present, and even in the

1:57

water. That was the case when

1:59

Yori drowned. Now you may think this isn't

2:01

going to happen to me or my kids. And

2:04

maybe that's because we don't talk about drowning

2:06

and how it happens enough. Drowning

2:08

is just a silent epidemic that people

2:10

don't really discuss on a daily

2:13

basis because there's some shame involved.

2:16

Obviously it's a

2:19

preventable tragedy and so you're not

2:21

necessarily going out saying, hey

2:23

my family member drowned, you know, it's

2:26

yeah it's something we don't discuss regularly in

2:29

our society. Today on the show

2:31

we're having the conversation. I talked to Shaezik

2:33

about what steps you can take to keep

2:35

the kids in your life safe around water,

2:37

particularly at the pool, because there are practical

2:39

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2:41

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Ideas and information at wallacefoundation.org. All

4:48

right, Shaezak, let's start here. When

4:50

is it recommended that kids learn how

4:52

to swim? So the

4:54

American Association of Pediatrics says

4:57

that we should put our children in swim lessons as

4:59

of one years old. And

5:02

that is when, you know, you

5:04

might still be in a mommy and me class

5:06

or a parent and me class. As

5:09

early as one years old is

5:12

when you can start really taking your kids

5:14

and having them, you know,

5:16

feel comfort in water, learn and

5:18

get to, you know, just

5:22

have some familiarity and understanding.

5:25

And I think it's really important, you know,

5:27

by one years old, we're starting to talk

5:29

to our kids about don't touch and don't

5:32

do. And, you know,

5:34

having those same conversations around water is

5:36

really important. Yeah, how do you

5:38

talk to kids about water safety and drowning?

5:40

The same way I talk to my kids

5:42

about buckling their seat belt every time they

5:45

get in the car. The same way that

5:47

I talk to my kids about looking both

5:49

ways before they cross the street. We just

5:51

haven't made this a regular conversation

5:54

that we have with our children. So, well, it's, hey,

5:56

you never swim alone. you

6:01

always ask for permission before you get

6:03

into the water and look for

6:05

lifeguards. And again,

6:07

most importantly, make sure that someone is watching

6:09

you. So if we start young,

6:12

that foundation is laid with having

6:14

a respect, a

6:16

healthy respect for water and making sure

6:18

that people have awareness of where we

6:20

are. So at what

6:23

age would you start having that

6:25

conversation with kids? I

6:28

believe as your kids

6:30

are able to have an understanding

6:32

and able to walk, you

6:35

start talking to them about water. Ideally, you

6:37

are taking them to swim lessons

6:39

at this point, but we understand

6:41

culturally, there's a lot of barriers

6:43

that prevent people from taking their

6:45

children to swim lessons. But I

6:48

would start having that conversation as soon as your

6:51

children can walk, because that means they can walk

6:53

over to a lake, a river, or

6:55

a pool, and go

6:57

in not thinking. Again,

6:59

you think about buckling your seatbelt. It's

7:01

something you do every single time you get into the

7:04

car, right? When you cross the

7:06

street, every time you kind of look both ways. This

7:08

is something we should do when we're out in open water of,

7:11

hey, I need that life jacket, or hey,

7:14

I need to make sure that someone has got

7:16

my back on shore. Yeah.

7:20

So let's get into some other tips, because

7:22

so far we've been talking about, you know,

7:24

what to tell your kids and what

7:26

rules your kids should follow. But as

7:28

an adult, trying to prevent kids from

7:31

drowning, what changes

7:33

should you make to the environment

7:35

around the pool? Like, let's say

7:37

you have a pool in your backyard. How

7:39

can you make sure it's safe for kids? For

7:42

sure. If you have a pool in your backyard, having

7:45

a fence around your

7:47

pool, four-sided fence is critical, not

7:49

just the three-sided fence. Or

7:52

they have covers, right? Also, any time

7:54

you're out of the pool, making sure

7:56

it's cleared of anything

7:58

that would. Heisa child to want

8:01

to go in. What about hot

8:03

tubs? Because a kid could drown in

8:05

a hot tub as well, right? So

8:07

yes, hot tubs, you have to consider

8:09

all of the things that are around

8:11

your house, anything with water. Should

8:15

be protected and there should be a

8:17

latch. There should be something, especially

8:19

again, when these children are young

8:21

and curious. It's

8:23

about keeping a cover

8:26

when you are not using it. We

8:29

don't have a yard for the big pool, so we

8:31

get a kiddie pool every time. Because

8:35

at some point you're not just even

8:37

concerned about your children, you're concerned about

8:39

other children in the neighborhood that might

8:42

walk in. And that's happened for

8:44

sure. It's about keeping the whole community

8:46

safe. I'm wondering also, like we've talked

8:48

about a situation where you kind of

8:50

have more control, but over your pool,

8:52

let's say. But if you're at a

8:54

rental or you're visiting family and they

8:56

have a pool or hot tub, but

8:58

they don't have some of these precautions

9:00

in place, they don't have barriers, what

9:03

should you do? I believe that

9:05

that's when you definitely have a conversation with

9:07

your children and you definitely have a conversation

9:09

with all of the adults that are in

9:11

the house. Right. So it's

9:14

more about having awareness. You know what?

9:16

We happen to be here. I

9:19

understand that you

9:21

don't have barriers on your pool and we have

9:23

a two year old that's really curious. So I'd

9:25

really like to put something in front of the

9:27

doors. And any time you

9:30

are with my child or if I'm with

9:32

my child, I would just really appreciate if

9:34

everyone can have eyes on because this is

9:36

the number one reason children want to for that. There's

9:38

another thing we say of know before you go. You

9:41

know, so it's great to know before

9:44

you go to a rental. So, hey,

9:46

I'm going to have my Coast Guard

9:48

approved life jacket or I'm

9:50

going to make sure that we take a

9:53

little something to block the doors or stop

9:55

it. Yeah, you

9:57

mentioned life jackets. What

10:00

is the role as a

10:02

lifejacket when it comes to

10:04

water safety? So the ruin

10:06

life jacket is to give

10:08

you a lot longer time

10:11

to survive if you happen

10:13

to fall into the water

10:15

and there is an emergency

10:17

situation and or you lose

10:19

consciousness and it it will

10:21

help keep you afloat. So

10:23

in particular in open water

10:25

it's really. Really

10:27

recommended that you were a life jacket

10:29

and while I'm here I'll just say

10:32

you know they have these things called

10:34

water wings and they're like slowly that

10:36

you put on your left arm and

10:38

forty The depend your right arm does

10:41

are not safe and. There's.

10:43

Easily slip off and.

10:47

There's. No guarantees. Yeah, any see

10:49

kids walking around with them but those

10:51

those slip off and they won't keep

10:53

you afloat the same way that a

10:55

lifejacket would that has cracked. There is

10:57

a label on the back that says

10:59

Us Coast Guard approved and the that's

11:01

really what you're looking for as actually

11:04

shopping for life jackets on Amazon for

11:06

the other day. and there are love

11:08

life jackets out there that are. Coast.

11:11

Guard approved. And sell it

11:13

is really tricky for parents to

11:15

kind of figure out and and

11:17

even understand which lifejacket. That they need

11:19

to use, but ideally. using.

11:22

A life jacket that zips and also

11:24

has buckles. And then when as a

11:26

younger child there is something that goes

11:28

through the length that again provides like

11:30

some additional support and protection. And the

11:32

last thing I'll say regarding life life

11:34

jackets is that you don't want them

11:36

to go over your ears. That's the

11:38

really big stick around My jacket is

11:40

making sure that it actually fits properly

11:43

because of he goes above. Your ears.

11:45

Will. Then it's going above your mouth

11:48

and your nose and you're still going

11:50

to go underwater. Of and.

11:53

When said kids be wearing a lifejacket,

11:55

I believe that kids be wearing a

11:57

life jacket. when they are or

12:01

around open water. So

12:03

when my kids, and

12:07

you know we say kids and we have to

12:09

break down ages, right, and that's so that's tricky

12:12

for sure, but you know if

12:14

my kid is not a strong swimmer

12:16

then my kid is in a life jacket no

12:18

doubt. But I also

12:21

say that I wouldn't treat

12:24

your life jacket like

12:26

a pair of eyes, you know, just

12:28

because, but we call it layers of

12:30

safety because there isn't necessarily

12:34

one thing

12:37

within, you know, these kind of

12:39

preventative methods that is 100%. Just

12:43

because you can swim it's not 100% that

12:45

you're not going to drop out. Just because you have a

12:47

life jacket on it isn't 100%. Just because you have a

12:50

barrier up it's not 100%. So

12:53

that's why that biggest

12:56

kind of tip we give is to

12:58

keep your eyes out, right? That's

13:00

the probably best thing that you can

13:03

do to prevent a drowning is if

13:05

you're 100% watching the water and the

13:07

people that are in it. Yeah, so

13:10

let's talk about that. When

13:12

kids are in the water you want someone paying

13:14

attention at all times. How might

13:16

you do that at, let's say, a backyard

13:18

pool party? What

13:20

we call it is water watching

13:22

and it's really important to designate

13:25

a water watcher and do

13:27

so so that someone is not watching

13:29

the water for an hour at a

13:31

time. That is the goal, right? Because

13:34

it does get, that's why lifeguards switch

13:36

out, right? Because it's a

13:38

lot constantly watching the water. But

13:41

often these tragedies happen

13:43

because someone thinks someone else is

13:45

watching. Someone thinks that someone else has

13:47

an eye on

13:49

the kids or on the pool.

13:52

And again, this quick

13:54

quiet moment happens and you still

13:56

hear playing but all of a

13:58

sudden you're like, wait a minute. there's

14:00

a voice missing, there's a screen missing. And so

14:03

really being focused on watching the water, I

14:06

often say that the amount of time it takes to

14:08

read and answer a text message is the amount of time

14:10

it takes a child to drown. It

14:13

really is just designating someone to

14:15

be solely focused on that. We actually

14:18

have water water badges that, hey,

14:21

I'm wearing this badge right now and

14:24

I'll hand it to you. I made an app

14:26

called the Water Watching App and it really is

14:28

an alarm on your phone that says, hey, I've

14:31

been watching the water for 20 minutes and then

14:33

you text it to the next person that

14:35

is with you. Hey, it's your turn to be

14:37

watching. Yeah, lots of different ways

14:39

to do this. When it comes to water

14:41

watchers, should those

14:44

folks be sober? Ideally,

14:46

someone watching the water has all of

14:48

their senses to them, mostly

14:50

because if there is an emergency and something

14:52

happens, the first thing that they should do

14:55

is be able to call 911, give

14:57

an address and location, call

15:00

for help, have someone get the person out

15:02

of the pool and

15:05

ideally them or someone in the

15:08

vicinity is doing CPR. I

15:10

don't wanna be a killjoy

15:14

and say, hey, don't go drinking at pool parties.

15:17

I just think that it's really important that you

15:19

have someone who is

15:21

a responsible adult there, just

15:23

like you have a designated driver, you

15:26

should definitely have a designated person. Should

15:29

adults consider taking a CPR

15:31

class? I believe that

15:33

adults should definitely

15:35

take a CPR class and

15:38

honestly, it changes often and

15:41

so it's something that you

15:43

should re-up, right? Every

15:45

two years, you should go and

15:48

take a CPR class. I also

15:50

personally believe that you should consider

15:53

taking a

15:55

refresher swim course every now and

15:57

then if you're going on a big trip. or

16:01

you know you're going to be around water and you haven't been in

16:03

it for a while, maybe you don't

16:05

have to take a lesson but at least go

16:07

to the pool and remind yourself especially you know

16:10

when you're swimming in a pool versus when

16:12

you're swimming in open water. There's a lot

16:14

of differences there and you need to get

16:16

comfortable and make sure you're comfortable doing that.

16:19

That was Shaezak Sinota, the

16:21

founder and executive director of

16:24

No More Under, a nonprofit

16:26

focused on water safety education.

16:28

Now we've mostly been talking about drowning prevention

16:30

in this episode but I'm gonna say a little

16:32

bit more here about what to do if you

16:34

are in a situation where someone is drowning at

16:36

a pool. We spoke with

16:39

Maria Bella, she specializes in aquatic

16:41

safety and serves on the National

16:43

Drowning Prevention Alliance's Advisory Council on

16:45

life guarding and supervision. Like

16:47

Shaezak, she says drowning is quiet, it's

16:49

quick and it can even look like

16:52

play. You know it's not what you see depicted

16:54

in movies with people screaming for help. So

16:56

let's say you do see someone struggling in the

16:59

pool and there's no trained lifeguard in the area

17:01

to perform the rescue. First if

17:03

there are other folks with you look at

17:05

someone and tell them, hey you call 911

17:08

someone is drowning. Next you

17:10

want to get the person or child out

17:12

of the pool but Maria says don't just

17:14

jump in you want to stay on land.

17:17

That's because it's everyone's instinct, even young

17:19

children's, to try and climb up and

17:21

out of the water. So if

17:23

you get in there with them while they're

17:25

panicking they may very likely pull you down

17:27

underwater too. Ideally you can

17:29

get a pole or something stable and reach it

17:31

out to the drowning person so they can grab

17:33

on and you can pull them to the edge

17:35

of the pool or to safety. If

17:38

that's not an option or you feel that

17:40

entering the water is necessary bring a flotation

17:42

device with you and keep it between you

17:44

and the drowning person so they can't grab

17:46

on to you. Now once you

17:48

get them out of the water if you haven't done

17:50

this already let's say because you were alone on land

17:53

immediately call 911 and the operator will

17:55

walk you through the next steps. Okay,

18:00

time for a re-clog. Drowning

18:02

can happen quickly, quietly, and

18:04

it can even look like play. So it's

18:07

important that you're watching kids whenever they're in

18:09

the water. Designate a

18:11

water watcher. An adult who explicitly knows it's

18:13

their job to watch the water and the

18:15

kids in it. Make sure to rotate

18:17

this roll every, say, 20 or 30 minutes. The

18:21

American Association of Pediatrics recommends swim lessons

18:23

for children as young as one. Talk

18:27

to kids about water safety, the way you'd

18:29

talk about other safety measures, like wearing a

18:31

seatbelt or looking for cars before you cross the

18:33

street. Consider barriers,

18:35

like fencing and covers for

18:37

backyard pools. And you can also

18:39

get alarms for backyard doors and windows that alert

18:41

you when they're opened. Hot

18:44

tubs, toilets, and anything filled with water in

18:46

your house should be protected with a latch

18:48

and covered up so children can't get into

18:50

them. If you're using

18:52

an inflatable or portable pool, make sure

18:55

to drain it after every use. In

18:58

open bodies of water, like lakes and oceans,

19:01

kids should wear Coast Guard certified life

19:03

jackets. And for the kids who aren't

19:05

strong, swimmers consider a life jacket at the pool, too.

19:08

Finally, if you see someone who might be drowning

19:11

in the pool, call 911, and if you can

19:13

avoid it, don't jump into the water with them.

19:16

Reach a pole or another object out to

19:18

them and pull them to safety from the

19:20

land. For

19:22

more Life Kit, check out our other episodes.

19:24

We have one on CPR and another on

19:26

how to learn to swim as an adult.

19:29

You can find those at npr.org/Life

19:31

Kit. And if you love Life

19:33

Kit and you want more, subscribe to our newsletter

19:35

at npr.org slash Life Kit newsletter.

19:38

Also, we love hearing from you, so if you have

19:40

episode ideas or feedback you wanna share, email

19:43

us at lifekit at npr.org. This

19:46

episode of Life Kit was produced by

19:48

Claire Marie Schneider. Our visuals editor is

19:50

Bec Harlan, and our digital editor is

19:52

Malika Grebe. Meghan Kane is

19:54

our supervising editor, and Beth Donovan is

19:56

our executive producer. Our production

19:58

team also includes Andy. Tagle, Margaret

20:00

Sereno, and Sylvie Douglas. Engineering

20:03

support comes from Becky Brown. I'm

20:06

Mary El-Sigara. Thanks for listening. This

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message comes from Schwab. With Schwab

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free test drive of

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OCI at oracle.com/NPR. What

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does it mean to be black in America? In

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NPR's Black Stories, Black Truths, a

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collection of stories as varied, nuanced,

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and dynamic as the black experience,

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you'll hear, it means everything.

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Search NPR, Black Stories, Black Truths,

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