Tips On Water Safety

Swimming can be one of the most important and life saving skills that you can ever learn, but learning about safety while you are in or near the water can be just as crucial. There are a lot of things that you should take into consideration before going swimming, whether it is in your own pool, a community pool, or another location such as a river or ocean.

Locations with wildlife can be dangerous to swim in, especially beaches, since there are sharks, jellyfish, and other things that can either attack you or make you extremely sick. This is why you should pay attention to any signs that are posted near beaches, since these will usually give you information about any wildlife you need to pay attention to that are in the area during the summer. Box jellyfish off the coast of northern Australia are particularly dangerous to swimmers and it is best not to swim in this region between the beginning of November and May.

If you can swim in an area with a lifeguard, you should do so, since the lifeguard is supposed to be trained in both first aid and CPR. This ensures that you and the rest of your family have a good time and are relatively safe, although everyone should take an opportunity to learn CPR and other first aid skills.

Never dive into an area of a pool unless you know that it is safe to dive in due to signs posted or by physically judging the depth of the water yourself. Never jump into a body of water unless you know for sure how deep it is and you can never tell this just by looking at it.

Children that you take swimming with you should be wearing floatation devices at all times and be supervised. Even if there is a lifeguard on duty, they can still drown or become injured, since there are probably a lot of other people that the lifeguard has to supervise.

Another good rule to live by is if you drink, there are quite a few activities that you should not be doing. Swimming is included among driving, boating, or diving. Drinking alcohol is known to impair a number of different senses necessary to conduct these activities responsibly and has caused a massive number of deaths in the past and continues to in the present. Please drink responsibly and not while swimming.