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Joey Wahler (Host): It's officially summer, which in Florida means it's unbearably hot. And we need a way to beat the heat. And there's no better way than to hop in the pool or enjoy a beautiful boat ride down the Banana River. So we're discussing how to stay safe when enjoying water activities in Brevard County.

This is Putting Your Health First, a podcast sponsored by Health First. Thanks for listening. I'm Joey Wahler. Our guests, Dr. Danielle Devereaux, pediatric emergency physician and Director of the Pediatric ER at Health First's Holmes Regional Medical Center. And along with her, Dr. Brittany Warren, trauma surgeon at Health First's Holmes Regional Medical Center. Ladies, thanks for joining us. Well, swim safety often is a little bit overlooked until it's too late, unfortunately, especially involving children. So let's start with you, Dr. Devereaux. What exactly in a nutshell do we mean when we talk about swim safety?

Dr Danielle Devereaux: That's a big question. And thank you for asking me that. So I think, number one, it's important to remember that drowning is preventable, 100% preventable. So it can happen so fast in the blink of an eye. So I think we need to do everything possible to prevent it from happening, and that means being prepared.

So number one, supervision. So I think whether you are doing a pool activity, an ocean activity, a river activity, having appropriate supervision is paramount. And what do I mean by that? First of all, if your friends, family, whatever group you're in, having an adult, definitely an adult, that is kind of designated as what we call the water watcher. I love this concept. So it's identifying one person that could be in charge of watching the younger children while they're doing their water activity. The water watcher needs to be engaged in just supervising kids. So not on their cell phones, not engaged in a serious conversation with another adult, but really their primary job is watching the kids. I also think it's super important to remember that alcohol can limit your ability to recognize if a kiddo is in danger and certainly limit your response, so being mindful of alcohol as well.

So supervision, that's number one for me. And then, I think barriers is another thing that I think about. So when it comes to pool safety, making sure that there are barriers, i.e., a fence that's at least four-feet tall that has self-locking or latching mechanism on it, super important. And then, I think that I would take it a step further personally, and have alarms on doors or windows at your house so that, you know, if you're busy and you hear it go off, if you have a young children in the house that could potentially wander outside, you're already looking out for that.

So supervision, barriers, and then also number three for me is swim lessons. I think every child and every adult should learn how to swim. I think that that can definitely prevent a lot of these unfortunate accidents from happening.

Joey Wahler (Host): And we're going to ask you a little bit more about that in a moment. First, dr. Warren, let's bring you in here. And whether it be from your own experiences as a doctor and/or statistics that maybe you can give us, how would you illustrate the number of deaths and near-deaths in the water affecting kids?

Dr Brittany Warren: Yes. Good question. Again, thanks for having us. This is actually startling statistic. As a trauma surgeon, I deal a lot, unfortunately, with traumatic issues, whether it be car accidents or whatnot. But actually, Florida leads the nation in drowning deaths for children ages one to four, according to the Department of Health. And so certainly, when we are thinking of traumatic issues or accidents, we have to consider that drowning is within the realm of possibility, especially for our young ones.

More children die from drowning than they do in car accidents. And then even those that don't die, unfortunately, 10% of them will suffer from permanent brain damage. If they are in a drowning incident and they happen to successfully make it out of the water, but are resuscitated, they will eventually be found to have permanent brain damage.

Joey Wahler (Host): Wow. So more drowning accidents than auto accidents. That's hard to believe.

Dr Danielle Devereaux: Definitely. The single leading cause of death in kids ages one to four, and then it is a top cause of death in teens as well. But I think we often don't consider and that's typically because older kids are choosing unsafe areas to do their water activities and/or alcohol is involved. So it's definitely up there for teens as well.

Joey Wahler (Host): Well, certainly eyeopening to say the least. Now, Dr. Devereaux, I wanted to ask you more about kids learning to swim. And its interesting, the owners of a major supermarket chain in the New York-Connecticut area, a place called Stew Leonard's, and they've devoted for decades much of their time and money promoting swim safety for kids. Because years ago, their son drowned at just 21 months old in their pool at because they turned their backs ever so briefly. So clearly, it's a situation where it only takes a split second for a tragedy. How soon do you start lessons to get on the road to avoiding that as one step?

Dr Danielle Devereaux: So I follow the American Academy of Pediatrics and they actually recently updated their policy statement on swim lessons, and they've lowered the age to starting at one year to definitely encourage parents and children to have swim lessons. Now, there are other options beneath a year, like ISR-rated swim lessons that are available if a parent chooses and developmentally appropriate for their child, but definitely ages one and above.

And then, as important as it is for the child to learn to swim, the parents should know how to swim as well. And I think that we often don't consider that in the teaching, but make it a family activity and it makes it fun. And then the kids get more engaged in the activity as well. Parents have the ability to call 211 and they can talk to an operator about local resources available for swim lessons in their area. I encourage everyone to learn how to swim.

Joey Wahler (Host): Wow. That's awesome, 211. So Dr. Warren, in or around oceans or other bodies of water, we had Dr. Devereaux a moment ago talking about some rules for swim safety around the pool, but when you're out at the beach or wherever it might be, what are some things to keep in mind there both for kids and adults as well?

Dr Brittany Warren: So this is actually quite important being as we're a coastal town on the Atlantic ocean. So it is very important to realize that rip currents are a real issue. This is caused from the gulf stream coming up along the coast and it pulls the water out. So the most important thing, and the thing that we kind of hammer into individuals that live here or visit here is that you should not swim against the current if you are finding yourself stuck in a rip current. The best thing to do is to swim parallel to the shore. And then, you can come in at an angle towards the beach. If you try to fight the current, you're just going to get tired and then you're at more risk for drowning. So, swim parallel to the beach and then in towards the beach at an angle. Rip currents are actually more deadly than tornadoes, hurricanes, and lightenings combined in this area of the state.

Additionally, you got to think about boating safety as well. We have a lot of boats on our intercoastal waterway or the Banana River as you kind of alluded to previously in the podcast. It's important to remember that any child under the age of six is required to wear a life jacket on a vessel less than 26 feet of length. But honestly, it's important that probably any child have a life vest on regardless of age and length of the boat. And there should be a life vest on board for the same number of people that are on the boat.

Joey Wahler (Host): Well, certainly some great tips there. So we've now covered both around a pool, around a much larger body of water. Couple of other things, you know, back in 1983, there was a huge news story when then star Kansas City Chief's running back, Joe Delaney, I remember it well, he died trying to save three kids from drowning in a pond near his home in Louisiana because he couldn't swim. And so he died tragically, but he was hailed a hero because it didn't stop him from at least trying to save others, but the fact is he could not swim. And so Dr. Devereaux, how important is it for adults to learn to swim? You alluded to it earlier for the sake of their kids, but just maybe to save their own life at some point..

Dr Danielle Devereaux: I think it's critically important. And again, I think we sort of ignore it and adults feel like, "Oh, they never learned. They don't need to." But that case that you just gave illustrates the point. It may not be for them, but it could be so that they could save another. I think everyone needs to know how to swim.

And then the other, on the flip side of that, I also think it's super important that everyone knows what to do in the event of a drowning, i.e., they've witnessed it, they pull the child or adult out of the water. I think everyone should know how to do CPR, basic life support. As soon as a kiddo, especially if they have a respiratory arrest, because time really matters, the time is their brain function, their ability to recover. And learning simple CPR can really be the difference between life and death. So I'm also a huge proponent of that as well. And you can do the same, 211 information and talk to an operator about getting local CPR resources in your area as well.

Joey Wahler (Host): And in summing up here, how about you, Dr. Warren? Any final thoughts in terms of a message that you want to send to parents with the warm weather upon us and more people going into the water?

Dr Brittany Warren: Sure. I think that Dr. Devereaux has done a great job at illustrating the importance of swim safety and steps to ensure that you remain safe while both at your house or, you know, out on the water. We can't emphasize this enough. It's unfortunate that we are put in the position to have to treat individuals that come in after drownings or near-drownings. And it is definitely something that, because we are fortunate enough to live so close to several waterways, we have a large lake nearby, we have intercoastal waterways, we have the ocean, nearly everyone has a pool, that it can't be overstated the importance of swim safety for both children and adults.

Joey Wahler (Host): One thing I think we've learned here along with some valuable tips and information is that these mishaps in the pool that can of course be tragic occur a lot more than most people realize. Doctors Danielle Devereaux and Brittany Warren, thanks so much again.

Dr Brittany Warren: Thank you.

Dr Danielle Devereaux: Oh, thanks for having us.

Joey Wahler (Host): Same here. And if you found this podcast helpful, please do share it on your social media. And thanks for listening to Putting Your Health First, the wellness and health podcast of Brevard County's leading health system. To stay up-to-date on topics such as this, follow Putting Your Health first on your favorite streaming platform. And you can find the latest Health First news at hf.org. That's H-F dot org. Hoping your health is good health, I'm Joey Wahler.