"Splash Into Safety" this summer with advice from the Safe Kids Mid-South, headquartered at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center.

Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 1 to 14 and the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children age 1 to 4. The majority of drownings and near-drownings occur in residential swimming pools and in open water sites. However, children can drown in as little as an inch of water and are therefore at risk of drowning in wading pools, bathtubs, buckets, diaper pails, toilets, spas and hot tubs. Drowning is usually quick and silent. Childhood drownings and near-drownings can happen in a matter of seconds and typically occur when a child is left unattended or during a brief lapse in supervision.

• Always supervise children in or near water.
• Make sure children only swim within designated swimming areas of rivers, lakes and oceans.
• Have four-sided isolation fencing around your pool or spa with a self-closing and self-latching gate.
• Empty kiddie pools and any containers with water after every use and store out of reach.
• Tell children never to run, push, or jump on others around water.
• Children should always wear U.S. Coast Guard approved safety devices when boating.
• Inflatable inner tubes and "water wings" are not safety devices.
• Keep toilet lids down.
• Keep doors to bathrooms and laundry rooms closed.
• Children in baby bath seats and rings must be within arm's reach every second.
• Teach children to swim after age 4. Learning how to float and "blow bubbles" can be taught at an earlier age and will help children gain a respect for the water.
• Learn infant and child CPR.
• Keep a phone handy in case of an emergency.

For more information, please call Safe Kids Mid-South, headquartered at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center, at (901) 287-6730.