June 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 12

WE ARE PARKS AND RECREATION
Spread the Word on Water Safety
NDPA's #WaterSafetyChampion campaign toolkit helps park and
recreation teams promote water safety
By Adam Katchmarchi, Ph.D.
W
Statistics
The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) states
ith water safety season officially underway,
children
in particular are at a significantly higher risk of
drowning as they spend more time enjoying community
centers and parks with inviting pools and lakes
to cool off on hot summer days. The National Drowning Prevention
Alliance (NDPA) works to prevent the tragedy of drowning through
education, awareness and advocacy, and its new campaign includes
a free-to-download toolkit that makes it easy for local park and recreation
agencies to help spread the word on water safety. NDPA's
#WaterSafetyChampion campaign stresses the need for anyone and
everyone in a position to protect a child while in and around open
water to learn and adopt the " 5 Layers of Protection " and help reverse
the misperception that any single strategy for drowning prevention is
enough. The campaign theme arose from the most common response
parents who have lost a child to drowning express time and time again
- " we didn't know. " These parents express that they didn't know how
prevalent childhood drowning is, how easily it can happen and the
importance of applying multiple strategies for prevention.
that drowning is the single leading
cause of death among children
ages 1 to 4 and the second
leading cause of injury-related
death for children up to age 14.
Meanwhile, according to reports
from cities and towns across the
United States, childhood drowning
rates have reached historic
highs in some states, and have
been steadily on the rise since
2019, up 11.5 percent overall between
2019 and 2021. In fact, in
2021, the number of child fatalities
due to drowning was equal
to almost 18 children per week
- enough to fill as many as 11
school buses. Further, the CDC
reports that for every one fatal
child drowning, another seven
Park and recreation agencies can use
NDPA's toolkit to increase awareness of
water safety and help prevent drowning.
12 Parks & Recreation | JUNE 2 0 2 3
| PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
children receive emergency department
care for a non-fatal
drowning incident.
Sharing Water Safety
Information
NDPA's #WaterSafetyChampion
campaign drives awareness of
drowning prevention, how easily
drowning can occur, and
most importantly, how to protect
children while in and around
open water. Central to the campaign
is a free, downloadable
Water Safety
Season Toolkit
(ndpa.org/toolkit) that contains
pre-produced content, materials
and resources to help share the
message and save lives.
As most areas of the country
transition to consistently warmer
weather, the importance of water
safety is increasing by the day,
with children and families gathering
en masse around aquatics
environments for pleasure and
relaxation. Sharing quality and
sound water safety information
with park and recreation center
staff, volunteers and the local
community this summer is
what's needed most. With higherthan-average
drowning rates since
the start of the pandemic, the
time for collective action is now.
For years, there have been calls
to create a universal summer water
safety campaign that everyone
could utilize in their communities
and regions across the country.
NDPA's #WaterSafetyChampion
campaign and Water Safety SeaPHOTO
COURTESY OF NATIONAL DROWNING PREVENTION ALLIANCE
http://www.ndpa.org/toolkit
June 2023 - Parks & Recreation

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