It just takes 15 seconds . . . to die!

With small children, as little as 15 seconds of submersion can stop their breathing.

And, if you aren't able to apply CPR IMMEDIATELY, your child may become yet another tragic statistic. People worry about pool chemical safety, even though chemicals hardly ever cause serious injuries, even when people misuse them. And we constantly warn people about the dangers of not having ENOUGH chemical in the water (usually:not enough chlorine). Low chlorine does result in a lot of illness, but even that is almost always non-fatal. A week or two of diarrhea is pretty miserable for EVERYONE in the family, but it's very different then death.

When people die around pools, too much WATER -- not chemicals, not drains, not any of the other things that the press has ranted about -- is almost always the cause. With adults, it's swimming + alcohol or drugs that usually results in fatalities. But with children, it's lack of adult attention.

And, it just takes 15 seconds of inattention with very young children. A quick response to a friend's text is long enough for your young child to die. So is a quick trip to the kitchen to grab a soft drink. A potty break is long enough older children to die.

My wife and I will never, ever forget a moment, now over 20 years ago, when we were swimming at a Girl Scout camp I serviced at that time. The camp was closed, but I had a key, and I often scheduled service runs -- if we weren't delivering bleach -- so we could work, then swim. We took our then 4 1/2 year old with us. I was a certified ARC lifeguard at that point, though not yet an instructor.

You can see the pool in the photo. Google Maps doesn't have very high resolution images of that area, but the photo shows the pool pretty much as it was then. There were swim-out steps on each side of the shallow end. Susan and I were sitting with our feet in the water at those steps, just where the cursor is in the photo, talking.
 Our son was immediately in front of us, playing on the shallow steps. Apparently, for just a few seconds, we took our eyes off of him, and were looking at each other.

When I turned back, he was in water over his head, paddling frantically. He was able to turn around and face us, and his eyes were out of the water . . . but his nose was not. We both remember those eyes: we remember them as seeming to be as big as dinner plates! There had been no splash, no cry, and no noise. But, if I hadn't looked back in time -- if I'd continued looking at Susan for just a minute, just 60 seconds, there was an excellent chance we would have lost him.

Since that time, we've avoided swimming around children whose parents aren't paying attention. Whether I want to, or not, I remember those eyes and 'go on duty' -- lifeguard duty.  We've left public swimming areas, because I was working, not having fun.

A pool is a WONDERFUL asset for families. Everyone in my family loves to swim, though we tend to prefer natural water to pools, and big public pools to small home pools. My boys are both excellent competitive swimmers, and are far, far more fit than most of their classmates. You can't eliminate all risk . . . and if you are going to live, and let your children live, you have to take risks and let them take risks.

But, a pool is a big responsibility, too. I'll never, ever forget my son's eyes: it just takes 15 seconds.

Tragically, the people in these articles forgot:
"It happened so fast!"
"Twin 4 year old boys dead"

Let their loss warn you: You must not forget!