Back Pool accidents can happen in the time it takes to pick up the telephone, see who’s at the front door, or, in the case of a local family, move a stroller to the edge of a poolside fence. Three-year-old Cinthia Combs was in the family’s backyard pool with her siblings and friends one warm May weekend when she almost drowned.  Cinthia was staying afloat with the help of a wearable water ring. Her mother, Barbara, says she took her eyes off of her daughter for just a moment, to help move her friend’s stroller.  When she looked back, Cinthia had somehow wriggled out of the ring’s shoulder straps.  She was floating, face-down, in the deep end of the pool. That terrifying accident is a reminder of how quickly a fun afternoon in the family pool can turn into a life threatening emergency.  Now the Combses want to turn Cinthia’s accident into an opportunity to remind anyone headed to a pool or lake this summer that even the quickest dip can be deadly if some simple safety rules aren’t followed. Here’s a list of water safety rules for home pools compiled from safety information distributed by the American Red Cross and the American Academy of Pediatrics: • Constant supervision is the most important step you can take to avoid water accidents.  That means never letting anyone swim alone, and if children are in the water, never taking your eyes off them.  It’s a rule that should be followed regardless of a child’s swimming ability or the depth of the water.  It even applies at a lake, a stream, near a toilet or even a bucket of water. • Don’t allow flotation devices, such as water wings or rings, to give you a false sense of security. • Children who live in a home with a pool should take swimming lessons, and adults in the home should know CPR. • Never allow anyone to dive into shallow water. • A telephone, a fence with a self-locking gate, and a pole or ring for rescues should be mandatory equipment at a home pool. The Combses had all of those things nearby when Cinthia’s accident happened.  Her father performed CPR.  She was revived and rushed to the hospital, where she stayed for two days. Today, Cinthia is back in the water.  But her parents say they will forever be shaken by an accident they now know can happen to anyone. Kay Quinn is an anchor and health beat reporter for KSDK (Channel 5). This story may be available for an Adobe Acrobat PDF download. Click on the link below to visit the site download center. If a PDF is available, the file will automatically open in your browser.

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