With the weather getting warmer, many families might try to beat the heat with some wet fun at a pool or lake. Emergency responders want people to take some precautions to prevent trouble in the water and to be prepared in case trouble does strike.
An average of 10 people die in the United States each day from unintentional drowning, of which 20 percent are ages 14 and younger, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drowning ranks fifth among the leading causes of unintentional injury death in the United States.
Earlier this month, a 3-year-old Aiken boy drowned after crawling under a fence to gain access to a family member's pool. The boy could not swim.
Ben Hastings, a crew chief with Aiken County EMS, said a person can drown in minutes - sometimes even less.
"All children should be supervised within arm's reach at all times, with an adult or responsible older child," he said. "The biggest issue is knowing where the children are and having someone constantly watching them. A vast majority of child drownings are related to the parents thinking the child was sleeping or they thought they were inside."
In addition to keeping an eye on children, Hastings said, it's a good idea to implement some safety features around pools, including a pool alarm and a fence that's at least 4 feet high with no room for a child to crawl under.
Hastings said a drowning person might not show signs of distress or be able to call for help.
"Depending on the size and strength of the child and how much fight they have in them, it can be in a minute," he said.
If you see someone in trouble in the water, officials agree the first step is to call 911 and get help on the way. Hastings said someone should only go into the water to rescue the person if it is safe.
"If it's going to put the person who's rescuing in danger, they may not have the ability to get the patient out. Now we have two patients and we're working, potentially, two drownings," he said.
Emergency officials have long urged people, especially parents, to get trained in CPR and first aid. Hastings said this could be life-saving if help can't get to a scene immediately.
The American Heart Association has made some changes to its guidelines for CPR to simplify the process for "lay rescuers," including eliminating the step of checking for a person's pulse before beginning CPR and focusing more on just chest compressions.
"It's not going to look enjoyable, and people get worried about injuring the child," Hastings said. "But at this point, that's kind of a secondary concern."
The American Red Cross regularly holds CPR and First Aid training classes around the CSRA, which can be viewed by visiting http://rdcrss.org/1Hcco63.
Teddy Kulmala covers the crime and courts beat for the Aiken Standard and has been with the newspaper since August 2012. He is a native of Williston and majored in communication studies at Clemson University.