Pool and Water Safety

Each year, as the temperature rises, residents head to the pool for fun in the sun. While the atmosphere is exciting, the situation can turn grim quickly. The following are some simple steps that you can take to ensure that a water tragedy does not take place in your backyard.

• Never leave a child unobserved around the pool.
  
• Designate a "water watcher," someone who will maintain eye-to-eye supervision at all times.
  
• Install a pool fence with vertical bars less than four inches apart. Pools constructed after Aug. 7, 1993, also must have an interior barrier (at least five feet high) in additional to the exterior fencing requirements.
  
• Install self-closing, self-latching hardware on all doors leading into the pool area.
  
• Trim trees near the pool fence and keep furniture and toys away so children cannot use them to climb into the pool area.
  
• Keep toys and pets away from the pool to prevent falls and to avoid distractions that might draw children to the pool area without proper supervision.
  
• Keep basic lifesaving equipment near the pool.
  
• Install a phone by the pool or keep a cordless battery nearby.
  
• Every caregiver should know CPR!

Additional Water Safety Links

Arizona Red Cross
CPR and Water Safety Training

Pool and Water Awareness brochure - English version (PDF)
A brochure developed by the Chandler Fire Department

Pool and Water Awareness brochure - Spanish version (PDF)
A Spanish brochure developed by the Chandler Fire Department