Summertime Safety Tips

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Whether it’s spring break or summertime, it’s important for parents not to take a vacation from safety. While warmer weather means endless hours of sun and fun for kids, it’s also an opportunity for both minor and serious injuries. In fact, summer is the most dangerous time of year for kids – nearly half of all unintentional injury-related deaths among children occur during the summer.

“Tragedies peak during the summer months because children are supervised less, have more free time and engage in more outdoor activities,” said St. Joseph’s Children’s Advocate Bevin Maynard. 

To help parents and guardians prevent unintentional summertime injuries, St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital of Tampa recommends the following:

Swimming Safety Tips


  • The National SAFE KIDS Campaign recommends that parents always supervise children around water and install fencing that completely surrounds all pools, spas, whirlpools and hot tubs. Pool fences should be at least five feet high and have self-latching gates.
  • Some states require newly constructed in ground pools to have fencing on all four sides. To find out the law in your state, go to www.safekids.org
  • Pool alarms and pool covers can offer an extra layer of protection. However, do not rely on them to keep your kids safe; they should be used in conjunction with fencing and constant supervision.
  • Know which of your child’s friends and neighbors have pools. Make sure your child will be supervised by an adult while visiting.
  • Children should learn to swim. Enroll them in swimming lessons taught by qualified instructors when they are ready, usually after age 4. If you don’t know how to swim, enroll with your kids!
  • Do not let children dive into water unless the child has learned proper diving techniques, an adult is present and the depth of the water is greater than 9 feet.
  • Install multiple drains in all pools, spas, whirlpools and hot tubs. This minimizes the suction of any one drain, reducing risk of death or injury
  • Regularly check to make sure drain covers are secure and have no cracks. Replace flat drain covers with dome-shaped ones.
  • Know where the manual cut-off switch for the pump is in case of emergency. Consider installing an approved “safety vacuum release system” (SVRS), a tool that quickly and automatically turns off the pump (and stops the suction) when something is trapped in or blocks the drain.
  • Teach children never to go near a pool drain with or without a cover, and to pin up long hair when in water.
  • Adults and kids over age 13 should learn infant and child CPR.
  • Pay attention to open water. Be aware of undercurrents and changing waves and undertows when at the ocean or a lake.
  • Children with marginal mobility should not be left unattended in a tub or other body of water regardless of age or presumed ability.
  • Empty all buckets, containers and wading pools immediately after use. Store them
    upside-down and out of children’s reach.

The American Cancer Society suggests the following guidelines to protect children
from the sun:

Sun Safety Tips

  • S- Shadow test. If the shadow is shorter than the child, the sun is at its strongest and most dangerous point.
  • U- Ultraviolet sun block with an SPF of 15 or greater should always be used if the child is exposed to sun.
  • N- Now! Protect children from the harmful effects of the sun now.
  • A blistering sunburn before the age of 10 will double the likelihood of that child developing skin cancer sometime during their lifetime.
  • Sunscreens cannot take the place of protective clothing and should be used together for the best protection.
  • Choose a sunscreen with at least a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 15 or more. This means you are protected from a reaction to the sun’s rays 15 times longer than without the sunscreen. Read the label, and know when to reapply.
  • Try to keep your children out of the sun between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., when the sun’s ultraviolet rays are the strongest.
  • Know the ways of the rays! Your children can get a sun burn on a cloudy day just as easily as on a sunny day.
  • The sun’s rays can penetrate through three feet of water. The sun will also reflect off the water and the sand. A beach umbrella is great but may not provide all the protection needed.