Watch little swimmers carefully

NEW YORK — There is no better life preserver than an attentive parent or caregiver.

That's the message from the National Safe Kids Campaign, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention of unintentional childhood injury, which recently released a study on childhood drowning.

Drowning is the second leading injury-related killer of 1- to 14-year-olds, totaling 900 deaths a year, according to the report called "Clear Danger: A National Study of Childhood Drowning and Related Attitudes."

"Clear Danger," which was co-sponsored by Johnson & Johnson, focused on the specifics of 496 drowning deaths in 2000 and 2001 in 17 states. Safe Kids also conducted a survey of parents and children to determine knowledge and behavior concerning water safety.

Of the deaths studied, another person, usually a family member, was supposedly supervising the victims in 88 percent of the incidents.

"Supervision" was defined as being in the care of another individual, not necessarily in direct line of sight. Several parents said they also talked to others, read, ate and talked on the phone while supervising — and some even acknowledged to closing their eyes and relaxing, reports Angela Mickalide, program director of the National Safe Kids Campaign.

"This is passive supervision. We're promoting active supervision," Mickalide says.

She suggests using a designated "water watcher," a parent or other adult who gives full attention to kids in and near water for an established period of time. If adults take turns, they'll also get to enjoy their day at the beach or pool, too, because when it's their time to read or relax, they can give that their full attention, she says.

Keeping children in the line of sight is particularly important because drowning is a silent killer, Mickalide says.

"It (drowning) happens quickly and silently. . . . What you see on TV and in movies is a misconception. Children are incapable of screaming out for help when they're drowning. They're using all their respiratory capabilities just trying to get as much air as possible into their bodies, they don't have air power to scream. Screaming takes a lot of air to do."

Mickalide also says that parents are unlikely to see children waving their hands in the air to get help because putting their hands above their head will make the body more linear, making it easier to sink.