Water Safety Month: Remember the pools we drained

Dave Benjamin, co-founder and executive director of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, usually starts his water safety classes by talking about fire. “What do you do in case of a fire emergency?” He normally asks the crowd of children. “Stop, drop and roll,” they say.

“What do you do if you’re drowning?” More often than not, the kids stay silent.

On July 27, 2013, 15-year-old Matthew Kocher was away from home on a camp trip to New Buffalo City Beach in New Buffalo, Michigan, earning community service hours for school. While standing in the shallow Lake Michigan waters, Kocher got caught in a rip current.

After Matthew’s funeral, John and his wife, Kathy, set up a foundation in their son’s name. They have since partnered with Benjamin and the GLSRP to sponsor more than 300 water safety talks in Illinois.

The following are the water safety tips they hope will save a life.

“Check the weather reports, check the wave reports and check for a rip-current warning. See if any flags are up,” Kocher said.

All of this information can be found on the National Weather Service’s website weather.gov. It is updated each day with watches, warnings and other advisories.

Whether at the beach or pool, the National Drowning Prevention Alliance suggests parents designate a water watcher or water guardian.

“Even if you are with a group of people, have one adult whose main responsibility is to keep an eye on the kids in the water,” Adam Katchmarchi, the executive director of NDPA said.

In a water emergency, GLSRP recommends swimmers flip, float and follow.

First flip over onto your back to float. Keep your head above the water, remain calm and conserve energy.

Swimming is an essential skill. However, 64% of African American children, 45% of Hispanic children and 40% of white children cannot swim.

This statistic becomes even more harrowing when it is revealed that of all nonswimming children, 87% plan to visit a beach or pool at least once during the summer.