Temperatures this weekend could send a lot of people to their favorite pools and swimming holes. Many people have their own backyard pools. Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn is reminding adults of safety risks when it comes to young children. Ginn says sometimes very young children can slip out of the house and into a pool very quickly during a short break in adult supervision.
“Leaves for just a short period of time to go get a drink out of a refrigerator or to do a specific task and come right back and they find that the child has left,” said Ginn.
Ginn chairs the county’s Child Fatality Review Committee. It reviewed the case of a seven-year-old drowning last week. It occurred earlier this summer. Last weekend, a two-year-old accidentally drowned in Fayette County.
Ginn said a barrier like a four-foot-tall fence around any pool is important.
“There's self-closing locked gates with alarms on them and those locking mechanisms are very easy for an adult to use but it’s difficult for a child to use,” said Ginn.
Ginn suggested people put up fencing around pools, use pool covers, dump out kiddie pools daily, and have rescue equipment on hand. He said knowing CPR and how to swim are also important.
