June 15, 2011, ERIE, PA — When I was a kid growing up, I remember that my summer swimming lessons were a big subject of conversation with my grandmother. When my grandmother was a child, her parents had been afraid of drowning and they forbade their children from learning to swim. The thinking, I suppose, was that if the kids didn’t know how to swim, they’d stay away from water. She made it clear that she thought this thinking was wildly wrong-headed and she was glad that I was learning to swim.
Today I read that the local YMCAs had participated yesterday in “The World’s Greatest Swimming Lesson,” a nationwide effort designed to make people aware of the importance of teaching children to swim. The YMCAs had offered swim lessons to local kids as part of an effort to set a world record. I wish I’d known about the event in advance (we’d have published it here in time to notify readers) but I thought it worthwhile to mention even after the fact.
As Karen Harvey of the YMCA said, “The main message of today is that swimming lessons save lives.” Well, we agree and it won’t hurt to keep broadcasting that message, even the day after “The World’s Greatest Swimming Lesson.”
Drowning and Swimming Pool Accidents Can Be Prevented
Drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death for children age 1 to 14 (traffic accidents are first). Drowning and swimming pool accidents are preventable. Proper swim and safety training can and will prevent most accidents.
We offer a library of safety materials for parents and swimming pool owners. Here’s a quick index with hyperlinks to each of them. Just click on the link to be taken to the article.
* General Pool Safety Tips
* The Consumer Product Safety Commission Backyard Pool Guide
* The CPSC Guide to Pool Entrapment Hazards
* The CPSC Guide to Preventing Child Drownings
* Swimming Pool Safety Barrier Guidelines
* Simple Pool Safety Steps
Outdoor swimming is a seasonal pleasure in Pennsylvania and one that can be enjoyed safely with just a little preparation and forethought. If you own a pool, you absolutely should read and follow all of the relevant safety guidelines that came with your pool and that are required by your local municipal guidelines and, by all means, read and consider the guidelines and tips we post here.
Contact an Experienced Pennsylvania Swimming Pool Accident Attorney
If your loved one was injured or, worse, killed in a swimming pool accident in Erie County, Crawford County, Venango County or Warren County, you will have many questions. How and why did this happen? Was there anything that should have been done that would have prevented this terrible loss? Should we do something about this? Can we do anything to prevent this from happening to others? A consultation with an experienced Pennsylvania injury attorney can answer your questions.
The Erie pool injury lawyers at Purchase, George & Murphey, P.C. can help. We offer free, no-strings attached consults to injured people and grieving families. To get the answers to your questions, call today locally at 814-273-2010 or toll free at 814-273-2010 or use our convenient on-line form on the right side of this page. We’ll answer your questions and, if appropriate, we’ll help you to recover the compensation necessary to make things right and deter accidents like this from happening to others.
Call today. Our consults are free and convenient and we won’t charge a fee unless we obtain a recovery for you.