Stay safe: In all your getting, acquire a pool net

This is to protect your children from the dangers of an uncovered or unclosed off pool area. Swimming pools, like any other useful productive gadget e.g stoves, fireplaces can be equally dangerous if precautions are not taken when it comes to children.
For every child that dies from drowning, as many as four others suffer near drowning experiences, often resulting in permanent disability. Of all pre-schoolers  who drown, 70 percent are in care of one or both parents at the time. A temporary lapse of supervision is a common factor in most drowning cases.
If you do not have a net, do not hesitate to call a pool company and get one. Remember in all your getting, get a pool net for your peace of mind when you are away from home.
Pool security fence: Clearly, pool net alone is not the answer. Thirty-two toddlers died in ground pools that had a pool net. Ten of them were allowed into a three- sided netted pool yard to play and eleven accessed a four-sided fenced pool enclosure because the gate was left propped open to give a dog access to the pool or because of a recent party. Only five children drowned as a result of climbing a compliant pool net. A further six toddler deaths occurred in above-ground pools, two of which were unnetted. In eight cases, access was gained via a non-complaint gate and two children were thought to have scaled the side of the pool.
A pool fence is useless without a secure self closing and self-latching gate. A pool magazine recently quoted “The majority of toddlers gain access to a fenced pool through a gate that does not shut or latch automatically or via a house door when there is no fence between the house and pool.”
Some parents still think adult supervise adult supervision can avoid these drowning and supervision is important if the adult knows a young child is anywhere near a water hazard. Unfortunately, in the majority of toddler drownings, the parent has no idea the child is anywhere near the water and this is when the unthinkable happens.
“The vast majority of drownings can be prevented, and prevention — rather than rescue or resuscitation — is the most important method, by which to reduce the number of drownings,” I recommend.
Pool netting can create a perception in the community that it makes it all OK. “Safety is a partnership: it’s a partnership with industry to get the right technology and hardware. It is a partnership with the swimming fraternity to teach kids to swim; it is a partnership with parents and all adults to supervise; and it is a partnership with the whole of Zimbabwe to learn resuscitation.” I will always preach this message to parents and teachers.
Safety advocates also recommend making one or two adults at social gatherings specifically responsible for monitoring children while they are swimming.
So remember in all your getting, get a pool net and fence!
– Vincent Munyeza is a director at Jackson Munyeza Pools. For views and comments you can contact him on splash@jacksonmunyezapools.com