DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - A week-long heat wave hits Central Illinois this week. For many, relief will come by taking a dip in the pool, prompting doctors to remind everyone to take proper precautions with their kids.
"The best thing we can do to keep kids safe around the water is getting them comfortable with swim lessons and the water," said Dr. Jon Gehlbach, who works in the Pediatric Care Unit at OSF HealthCare Children's Hospital.
Gehlbach says giving your child a floatie is not enough without swim lessons and adult supervision.
"A common misconception among young, pre-swim lesson kids is that some type of flotation device is replacement for either swim lessons or adult supervision," Gehlbach said. "Unfortunately, those devices aren't really designed to keep kids safe in the water without those two other elements."
Many kids who drown do so because they got into the pool without adult supervision. In 2024, 14 children drowned, according to IDPH.
"Probably the most common scenario we see for drowning is when a child gets into the pool and an adult is not aware a child has entered the pool," Gehlbach said. "A lot of those are family home pools where a kid gets outside and the family is not aware, and they go to look for the child and find them at the bottom of the pool, and who knows how long they've been down there."
Monday, about 5,000,000 above-ground pools responsible for nine deaths of children were recalled.Â
The best way to be able to help when a scary situation arises is to be CPR certified, something Gehlbach says could be life-saving.
"Anybody that is going to be in a scenario where there are children swimming and there's not a lifeguard present," Gehlbach said, "some adult needs to be CPR certified."
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