Sunday, July 13, 2008
Water Safety Tips from OHI
School's out, pools are open, the beach is inviting, the sun is shining, and everyone is looking for fun ways to cool down as summer temperatures rise. Remember as you head to the beach, pool, or lake, Ocean Health Initiatives (OHI) encourages you and your family to keep water safety in mind to ensure a happy, healthy, and safe summer.
Before you take that plunge into any body of water, ask yourself if you are completely aware of how to keep yourself and your family healthy and safe around water. Information about water safety often changes so it is a good idea to review the current safety recommendations.
The most important advice is to learn to swim and teach your children to swim as soon as possible. Never swim alone—always swim with a buddy. Your buddy should be at least 13 years of age. No matter how old you are, it is important to let someone know where you will be and how long you will be gone. What if there were problems or an emergency? You always want help to be able to reach you.
When it comes to child safety, most parents think about life jackets, swimming lessons, and childproofing their pool, which are very important. But, no matter what, never leave a child unobserved around water even though they may be wearing flotation devices or know how to swim. An adult must always be watching. It’s also a good idea to place a fence around your pool to prevent easy access. When it’s not swimming time, keep all toys as far from the pool as possible. Even kiddy pools can pose a threat to your child if he or she is left unattended. Your eyes must be on your children at all times.
Understand your limits. Even if you are a strong swimmer, you can become tired from the sun and, maybe, even careless in the water. If you're riding jet skis or watercraft in deep water, it's important to wear a life preserver and have safety equipment on board.
Take the time to watch your local weather conditions and forecasts, and make sure to get out of the water at the first sign of bad weather.
It is always best to swim in areas that minimize the risk of an accident, which is why you should swim in lakes or rivers with clean water quality and naturally safe conditions.
Although a lake or river has fewer hidden objects in the water that could harm you and the tide or current is less of a threat to your safety, you must still take safety precautions. To prevent RWIs (Recreational Water Illness) beware of swallowing, breathing, or having contact with contaminated water from swimming pools, spas, lakes, rivers, or oceans. Water illnesses can cause a wide variety of symptoms, including skin, ear, respiratory, eye, and wound infections.
On the beach pay careful attention to flag warnings and whether a lifeguard is on duty. You should only swim in areas that are supervised by a lifeguard. Look around for posted signs or warnings about the area you are in. Is it safe? Should you get caught in a strong current, called a rip tide, don’t fight the current. Swim across it until you are gradually out of the current.
Diving into water can be very dangerous so only dive into water that is clearly marked for diving. The water should be deep enough and have no obstructions. Why not enter the water feet first to make sure it’s O.K.?
Never mix alcohol with swimming, diving, or boating. Even if you feel fine, alcohol will impair your judgment, balance, and coordination. Alcohol, especially beer, speeds dehydration. Alcohol also affects your swimming and diving skills, and reduces your body's ability to stay warm. In other words, do not drink and dive.
Water can disguise the extent of sunburn, hypothermia, and dehydration. Water may cool your skin but it also increases the effects of the sun, so you may sunburn quickly and not even realize it. If the water feels cold when you go in it, don’t stay too long. Believe it or not, water can cool your body too much and cause hypothermia.
Dehydration occurs when we lose more 3 percent of our water content. (Losing 20 percent of our water content, can cause death.) Being in the sun quickly uses up the water our bodies need, so it’s important to drink—even if you are not thirsty—when you are in the sun. Combine mild dehydration with blazing sunlight, and it's easy to suffer heat stroke.
Heat stroke is extremely life-threatening. Heat stroke is a condition during which the body’s temperature-control mechanism stops working, and a person’s body temperature rises to dangerous levels. Signs of heat stroke include hot skin, a rapid or weak pulse, and shallow breathing. Call 911 immediately, move the person to a cooler place, and wrap the person in wet sheets, fan them, and give them cool liquids. If you have ice, put it on the person’s wrists, ankles, armpits, and neck until help comes.
Drink up! Water is good for everybody and every body.
If you are a firm believer in waterproof sunscreen, don’t believe it! You won’t get full protection from sun block for more than two hours without reapplying it.
Further your water safety education. Check with your local Red Cross, YMCA, or library and enroll in CPR classes. Even if you have taken the class before, you should continue to update your knowledge because techniques on saving lives are constantly changing.
Here are a few helpful tips to remember before stepping out this summer: Wear sunscreen; bring insect repellent; drink plenty of water; and, once more, never enter the water alone.
About Ocean Health Initiatives: OHI, a federally qualified health center (FQHC), with locations at 101 Second Street, Lakewood, and 301 Lakehurst Road, Toms River, provides comprehensive preventative and primary care, including pediatric, maternal and child health, prenatal, WIC, universal immunizations, and dental health to the area’s uninsured, underinsured, and undocumented, residents on a sliding-fee scale, based on an individual’s or family ability to pay. OHI has a bilingual staff available to assist patients and callers. To become a patient of OHI, call a representative in the Call Center at either 732-552-0377, Toms River, or 732-363-6655, Lakewood. Visit www.ohinj.org. for further information.
Submitted by Fran Kirschner, Frantasy Enterprises
Before you take that plunge into any body of water, ask yourself if you are completely aware of how to keep yourself and your family healthy and safe around water. Information about water safety often changes so it is a good idea to review the current safety recommendations.
The most important advice is to learn to swim and teach your children to swim as soon as possible. Never swim alone—always swim with a buddy. Your buddy should be at least 13 years of age. No matter how old you are, it is important to let someone know where you will be and how long you will be gone. What if there were problems or an emergency? You always want help to be able to reach you.
When it comes to child safety, most parents think about life jackets, swimming lessons, and childproofing their pool, which are very important. But, no matter what, never leave a child unobserved around water even though they may be wearing flotation devices or know how to swim. An adult must always be watching. It’s also a good idea to place a fence around your pool to prevent easy access. When it’s not swimming time, keep all toys as far from the pool as possible. Even kiddy pools can pose a threat to your child if he or she is left unattended. Your eyes must be on your children at all times.
Understand your limits. Even if you are a strong swimmer, you can become tired from the sun and, maybe, even careless in the water. If you're riding jet skis or watercraft in deep water, it's important to wear a life preserver and have safety equipment on board.
Take the time to watch your local weather conditions and forecasts, and make sure to get out of the water at the first sign of bad weather.
It is always best to swim in areas that minimize the risk of an accident, which is why you should swim in lakes or rivers with clean water quality and naturally safe conditions.
Although a lake or river has fewer hidden objects in the water that could harm you and the tide or current is less of a threat to your safety, you must still take safety precautions. To prevent RWIs (Recreational Water Illness) beware of swallowing, breathing, or having contact with contaminated water from swimming pools, spas, lakes, rivers, or oceans. Water illnesses can cause a wide variety of symptoms, including skin, ear, respiratory, eye, and wound infections.
On the beach pay careful attention to flag warnings and whether a lifeguard is on duty. You should only swim in areas that are supervised by a lifeguard. Look around for posted signs or warnings about the area you are in. Is it safe? Should you get caught in a strong current, called a rip tide, don’t fight the current. Swim across it until you are gradually out of the current.
Diving into water can be very dangerous so only dive into water that is clearly marked for diving. The water should be deep enough and have no obstructions. Why not enter the water feet first to make sure it’s O.K.?
Never mix alcohol with swimming, diving, or boating. Even if you feel fine, alcohol will impair your judgment, balance, and coordination. Alcohol, especially beer, speeds dehydration. Alcohol also affects your swimming and diving skills, and reduces your body's ability to stay warm. In other words, do not drink and dive.
Water can disguise the extent of sunburn, hypothermia, and dehydration. Water may cool your skin but it also increases the effects of the sun, so you may sunburn quickly and not even realize it. If the water feels cold when you go in it, don’t stay too long. Believe it or not, water can cool your body too much and cause hypothermia.
Dehydration occurs when we lose more 3 percent of our water content. (Losing 20 percent of our water content, can cause death.) Being in the sun quickly uses up the water our bodies need, so it’s important to drink—even if you are not thirsty—when you are in the sun. Combine mild dehydration with blazing sunlight, and it's easy to suffer heat stroke.
Heat stroke is extremely life-threatening. Heat stroke is a condition during which the body’s temperature-control mechanism stops working, and a person’s body temperature rises to dangerous levels. Signs of heat stroke include hot skin, a rapid or weak pulse, and shallow breathing. Call 911 immediately, move the person to a cooler place, and wrap the person in wet sheets, fan them, and give them cool liquids. If you have ice, put it on the person’s wrists, ankles, armpits, and neck until help comes.
Drink up! Water is good for everybody and every body.
If you are a firm believer in waterproof sunscreen, don’t believe it! You won’t get full protection from sun block for more than two hours without reapplying it.
Further your water safety education. Check with your local Red Cross, YMCA, or library and enroll in CPR classes. Even if you have taken the class before, you should continue to update your knowledge because techniques on saving lives are constantly changing.
Here are a few helpful tips to remember before stepping out this summer: Wear sunscreen; bring insect repellent; drink plenty of water; and, once more, never enter the water alone.
About Ocean Health Initiatives: OHI, a federally qualified health center (FQHC), with locations at 101 Second Street, Lakewood, and 301 Lakehurst Road, Toms River, provides comprehensive preventative and primary care, including pediatric, maternal and child health, prenatal, WIC, universal immunizations, and dental health to the area’s uninsured, underinsured, and undocumented, residents on a sliding-fee scale, based on an individual’s or family ability to pay. OHI has a bilingual staff available to assist patients and callers. To become a patient of OHI, call a representative in the Call Center at either 732-552-0377, Toms River, or 732-363-6655, Lakewood. Visit www.ohinj.org. for further information.
Submitted by Fran Kirschner, Frantasy Enterprises
