Water Safety Doesn’t Stop When Summer Is Over!
We’ve had an excellent summer of fun in the water at the YMCA, but as the seasons change, we want to continue to stress the importance of water safety and education! Water Safety is critical when it comes to having our kids in the water. Water safety is important all year long to ensure the safety of our kids and ourselves when around water.
The YMCA has established rules for your safety based on the most current aquatic safety research, one of these rules prevents our guests from prolonged breath holding activities while in YMCA managed pools.
This year there were three non-fatal but severe Shallow Water Blackout incidents. In September the fourth shallow water blackout incident resulted in the death of a young man. Shallow Water Black —or unconsciousness following prolonged underwater breath holding, usually with hyperventilation—is deadly. And although the dangers of Shallow Water Blackout have been known for years, the Y wants to do everything within out power to keep our swimmers safe and prevent these unnecessary deaths from occurring.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
- Understand the risks of Shallow Water Blackout in both children and adults.
- Supervise children carefully when around the water, even when lifeguards are present.
- Practice the buddy system and never swim alone.
- Do not attempt long underwater swims or timed breath holding.
- No breath holding competitions, either for time or distance.
- Never hyperventilate prior to swimming.
- Don’t resist the urge to breathe: always come up for air when your body tells you to.
- Competitive Swimmers, Coaches and Parents must understand the ABC for Shallow Water Blackout. There must be close supervision, adequate rest and no hyperventilation before restricted breathing or limited breath-holding exercises. Hypoxic training and prolonged breath-holding are not permitted in YMCA managed pools.
For more information on Shallow Water Blackout education, visit http://shallowwaterblackoutprevention.org
If you have any questions about our blog post? Email us at media@ymcadallas.org!