End Infant and Toddler Drowning Accidents
Infant Swimming Resource Teaches Infants and Toddlers To Swim
May 12, 2009
Drowning is the second leading cause of death of children under the age of 18 and takes the lives of approximately 2000 children each year. In states like California, Arizona, and Florida, drowning is the leading cause of accidental death of children under the age of 5. [1]
Parents of small children have the power to prevent their child from becoming part of these tragic statistics. Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) teaches survival swimming skills to children from the age of six months to age 5. Certified ISR instructors give your child the skills to survive in water accidents long enough to be pulled from the water alive.
Started by Dr. Harvey Bennett in 1966, ISR certified instructors have taught more than 177,000 babies self-rescue water survival techniques, with more than 788 documented cases of these same children who used their training to survive water accidents.
ISR Instructors
ISR Certified Instructors complete a 6-week intensive training program that includes more than 60 hours of in-water instruction and each instructor must get re-certified annually to ensure that he meets ISR quality teaching standards. Each instructor is also required to complete additional classes in child psychology, physiology and behavioral science.
What to Expect in the Lessons
Instructors work one-on-one with each student, and pool time for infants and toddlers is short, with each session lasting no more than 10 minutes. Classes are usually held Monday through Friday, depending on instructor availability. Prior to entering the water, parents are required to complete a health form, or Bowels, Urine, Digestive, and Sleep (BUDS) sheet documenting the child's sleep patterns and digestive input and output. Parents are required to keep detailed, daily BUDS records until the child graduates from the classes, which occurs when the instructor feels that the child has mastered the skills ISR requires.
Instructors work with each child until he has mastered the age appropriate skills to the satisfaction of the instructor, as outlined in ISR training. Annual refreshers are required to maintain skills as a child grows and changes. Parents can expect lessons to last four to six weeks for a child to master the necessary skills.
During lessons a child learns several skills, such as when it is safe to breathe, the float, the swim-float-swim sequence, finding safety and exiting the water. Situations are also engineered to mimic an accidental fall into the water, and instructors purposely put the child into disorienting situations so that he can master righting himself and find safety. Lessons culminate when a child can "fall" into the water in full clothing and find his way to safety.
Critics of the ISR Approach
Despite its demonstrated success, the program has critics. Parents who have difficulties watching their child cry often become distressed watching the classes. According to Amy Pritchett, ISR Master Instructor in a person interview on Aug. 10, 2002, children cry when placed in new and unfamiliar situations and few situations are more unfamiliar than being submersed in water. Infants also cry as a biological response to intentionally increase respiration. Just as heart rate increases during exercise in adults, crying raises an infant's heart rate to increase respiration when additional oxygen is needed. Crying in these situations is not only desired, but beneficial for the child.
Attending ISR daily lessons requires a substantial commitment on the part of parents. Many ISR Instructors hold lessons during regular work hours, making it difficult for working parents to bring a child to the lesson. Additionally, daily health forms must be completed, adding to a busy caregiver's already hectic schedule. While the swim lesson process is inconvenient, the classes work and provide a child who falls into the water a fighting chance at surviving the incident. Parents need to trade off short term inconvenience for the long term benefit of saving their child from a drowning death.
Lesson costs have been cited as another reason some parents choose not to enroll their child in the program. Classes can range from $50–$70 per week, depending on the instructor and the location of the classes. Parents who are unable to afford the classes can contact the instructor to see if they qualify for financial assistance through ISR's Foundation or through other community foundations that support the ISR initiative.
While the cost, time, and effort to take your child to infant swimming can be taxing, grieving the accidental drowning death of a child is devastating. Infant swimming has proven over time and through its success stories that the benefits of teaching your child to survive in the water far outweigh the effort required to complete these lessons.
To find a certified ISR Instructor in your area visit the Infant Swimming website.
References:
[1] Wintemute, Garan J. MD, MPH. "Childhood Drowning and Near-Drowning in the United States". American Journal of Diseases of Children1990; 144(6):663-669.
For more information on toddler development, see Potty Train Your Child in One Day or Toddler Teaching Strategies.
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