Swimming Pool Alarms - Let Your Kids Swim Safely
by: Allie Walcher
There is nothing quite like a having fun in the swimming pool to help create magical summer memories for both kids and adults alike. Swimming pool alarms are a great way to ensure that the memories are always happy ones, by alerting a parent in case a child wanders into the pool unattended.
Swimming pool alarms are really essential safety devices for any home that has a pool, or for homes that have a fresh water lake in close proximity. The pool alarms were introduced a little over 10 years ago, and have helped to save many lives of children who might have drowned accidentally if there had been no alarm to let the parents know their child had fallen into the water.
Unfortunately, too often children wander into unattended swimming pools with no type of pool alarm, which then become deadly hazards if the child falls in an no one is near enough to quickly rescue the child.
It is estimated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) that approximately 350 children, under 5 years of age, drown in pools every year, and over 2,500 are taken to emergency rooms after near-drowning events.
The CPSC recently conducted a study that evaluated three different types of pool alarms: the surface alarm which floats on top of the water and detects movement on the surface; the underwater alarm that can identify waves beneath the surface; and, a wristband alarm that is worn by the child, and cannot be removed by children, and which signals when it is exposed to water.
The study revealed that the underwater alarms consistently performed the best and were found to set off the alarm more consistently and were less likely to create a false alarm. When a test object, simulating a small child, was pushed into a pool, the underwater sensors delivered the most dependable results. Also, the underwater type can be used when the pool cover is on, but a surface alarm cannot.
The wristband device alarmed reliably and consistently, but this choice can be impractical because the parent must be diligent about putting it on the child, and it will go off when exposed to any water, such as tap water, sprinklers and water guns.
Swimming pool alarms can be such a useful safety device and can help give the parents of small children a sense of security that their child will not be able to get into the water without the parent being alerted. However, it is critical to understand that these alarms are not designed to replace adults or to relieve them from the responsibility of supervising any activity while children are in or near a pool.
Allie Walcher is a young author writing on topics such as Swimming Pool Alarms and comparing monitored home alarms.
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