The holiday weekend marks the
unofficial start of summer.
And of course, while most of us,
we all hope to have a lot of fu,
we want to make sure that you ad
your kiddos are as safe as poss.
Here with some water safety
tips is Miss Gina Torjak,
Certified ISR Instructor with It
Swimming Resource For 16 years in Atlanta,
Get this guy's she's taught over 1400
babies and toddlers to swim and float.
And as more than 25 survival
stories right here in our commu,
let's give it
up for Gina.
Tina, I am so happy you're here.
Such an important topic as all
the pools open up this weekend.
Let's bust some myths about drog
today because it's not just something
that we need to worry about, you know,
during swim time and you have se
really eye opening statistics
in terms of it being the leading
cause of accidental death for k.
One through 4. That's scary.
Yes, and Memorial Day weekend is notoriously
the deadliest weekend for drown.
So we, you know, not to be grim, but.
On average, 4000 people lose thr
lives to drowning because that's
10 a day in the United States ad
it is the leading cause of death
for children ages 1:00 to 4:00.
So we really need to talk about
the layers of protection and
how to supervise your children.
Prepare for the weekend because.
I'm excited.
It's May. I'm
happy for a summer. Yes. Well, I
was going to say one
thing you taught me, Gina,
and also maybe nutrition said is that.
Something we don't think about
is driving is often silent.
You don't hear it, so you know,
you could think you're even
paying attention.
But it is silent.
It's not the the videos that
we see sometimes of people
splashing and making a big fun
happens in 20 to 60 seconds.
And when a child enters the poo,
it doesn't make a sound.
So I often tell my parents, you know,
this is what drowning looks lik.
It's it doesn't look like a
big splash and a struggle.
It's a child slipping under the
water and not making a noise.
So we want to talk about how to
keep them safe. OK, go to that.
Multiple layers of protection.
The National Drowning Prevention Alliance
suggests that we do 5 layers of protection.
Those are barriers and alarms
around our pool.
Make sure that the pool is fenc.
Gated locks on the doors,
locks on pet doors and alarms in the pool.
The most important layer of protection
from the National Drowning Prevention
Alliance is going to be active supervision.
Designate a water watcher.
I'm going to be like Kira.
Yeah. OK, I'll put this in.
You watch the baby.
Yeah. 45 minutes.
Constant eyes on.
And then she knows where they'r.
Dress your child in bright layes
so that you can spot them right?
And make sure if you need a bre,
I'm going to say Kara, OK,
I'm going to take over now,
we're not going to be on our ph.
We're going to be watching our
child solely focused on them,
right?
Exactly. And I like that.
We mentioned too at the
beginning of the show,
the pool is not a babysitter.
I know we all want to relax.
It's been a long year, but I love that.
And I think we were looking at
the graphic instead of this.
Can we show that?
And you're to get,
because it's so cool
that it's like you are
the designated.
Cool mom right now and then I need a break.
I use the restroom because drowg
happens during non swim times on breaks.
The other layer of protection that we
want to look at is water compet.
Does your child have formal swim lessons
and do we teach them to enter the water,
hold their breath,
roll onto their back, float,
rest and breathe and wait until help arrives?
If they're older they can
flip over and learn to swim.
And something
else Juna says is do not
teach your child to blow
bubbles. Keep our air.
It makes you buoyant and
keeps you at the surface.
OK, so you want to hold your
breath as you enter the water.
Teach them to roll over into the
back and breathe on their back.
Float, rest and breathe. OK,
Speaking of floating,
let's talk about these because d
all of the devices in front of ,
All of the little flotation dev.
What do we need to know about t?
I feel like some of them are
almost too like a a little safe.
What am I trying to say?
Like these are a layer
of protection. Yes, a life jackt
is a layer of protection on a b,
but it's meant to be used for a
moving vessel. Got it. A kayak.
If your child is an infant,
they would have an extra headrest, right?
What they're being marketed now
incorrectly is floating and swimming aids.
These are like, that's
what I want to say, like a a
false sense of safety. It's not,
it's not a swimming aid and it's
been marketed as a swimming aid.
These are to be used on the boa.
This would be not to be used in the pool.
What that does is it teaches
your child the incorrect posture
and that's what we saw earlier.
It teaches them to be vertical in the water,
head back tilted and and it essentially
teaches the drowning position.
So if your child is in this.
Children learn by doing right at
interacting in their environmen.
So if they learn by doing,
you want to ask yourself,
what is my child doing in the w?
And if that flotation is remove,
they're learning the drowning
position in this.
Oh my gosh. OK, So what do
we do with these chocolate
in half and throw it away.
Done. Seriously. It even
increases the risk of drowning.
So flotation devices,
when used as swimming aids in a pool,
increases the risk of drowning.
The real thing that you can do
to reduce your risk of drowning
by 88 percent is to give your
child formal swim lessons.
Let them learn what their body.
Scales like in water.
Let them learn their buoyancy.
Sure. And Carrie, you did that.
I was going to say okay.
So personal experience.
And just to say Gina taught
two of my children to swim.
Why? Youngest Liza.
She is completely competent
in the pool like it is.
It is literally the best
thing I've ever done.
I've done made a lot of parenting decisions,
and this is just truly one
of the best ones I've done.
But let's talk about what we do
in the pool to allow our childr,
Gina, to enjoy themselves safel.
So what you want to do is formal swim
lessons reducing the risk of 80.
Percent, but, you know,
reducing the risk of drowning by 88%.
Let me interrupt
you real quick. How? At what ag?
Because Liza looks like she
was what, a year? There
she what? Yeah, she was the lessons I
teach. We started six months upn
6-6 months and sitting unassist.
But the American Academy of Pediatrics
states that children can benefit
from swim lessons at the age of.
And if they can crawl,
they should be learning to floa.
Excellent. If they can walk, they should
be learning to swim and float. ,
I didn't mean to interrupt,
but I want to make sure I asked that.
OK, so now on to how do we
keep them having fun? Right.
That was your question. Right, Karen?
Well, I was just gonna say too t
I think we started Liza actually
just add to your point at 8 mons
and then she went back at like 8
months and then she's had like 2
consecutive like refreshers since there.
That picture you're looking at
there is actually the final Test
they do with ISR where she is le
simulating falling in with all of her
cookin or look at her. Yes,
Liza girl, you know
what you're doing. Good job.
And that's the statistics.
Children drowned during non swim
times while they're fully cloth.
So we're reviewing the.
Closed. It's not.
It's not on the first day, it's after.
The child is skilled.
Liza learned how to roll.
She learned how to hold her bre.
She learned how to float.
She was strong.
She was competent,
and we reviewed what it feels like to go
into clothes at the end of our session.
But what you want to do in the ,
I think the question really bris
up is okay, I can't use this.
What do I do?
So you want to be within
arm's reach at all times,
actively having a you have a war
watcher assigned to watch them,
and they're they're not to be off pedaling
without without being able to touch them.
Formal swim lessons really redu,
you know,
it really helps you.
I mean,
88%.
That's a staggering.
Staggering. Yeah, it really is.
If we skill
the child before they reach wat,
then the child becomes their
own layer of protection, Right.
So what I am lucky enough to
do every day, it's awesome.
I get to see Liza teach babies.
When you think about a mom,
it's May all these first,
the last day of school, the fir.
So I get to see a baby.
You get to see their first word.
You can just see the first day.
They learn to walk.
I get to see the first time.
They learn how to save their own life.
Yeah.
So I'm thinking about it now.
It's the best job.
I get to do it barefoot. Yeah,
exactly. I get to do
it barefoot and I get to see a
baby learn how to save her life.
It's it's it's the one
of the swimming lessons,
one of the few things you can do with
your child where they are learng
a first and you're witnessing
them learn it right in front.
It's it's miracle. I
wish we had a full hour.
This was such incredible information.
Thank you so much for taking the
time to share your message quic,
my husband said.
I think the best thing was thate
taught our kids how not to be in
fear and did not panic in a situation.
They're so calm around the wate.
Which is which
is so keen. Just add that we've got to come.
We can't drown. Proof our child.
Always adult supervision.
Guys, go into your weekend
feeling safe thanks to this.
All right. We'll be right back.
So much good information.
Thank you. Thank you. Very good.