Make a Splash Safely: Essential Water Safety Tips to Know
Summer pool season is right around the corner and Prince William County Parks and Recreation wants you and your loved ones to have a safe and fun summer or whenever you’re in or around water. May is Water Safety Month, making it the perfect time to review important water safety tips with your children and family.
While all of our pools and water parks have highly-trained lifeguards on duty, it is still important for both children and adults to know how to swim. Prince William County Parks offers swim lessons throughout the year for all ages and ability levels.
“It is so important to learn how to swim because those skills can save your life or someone else’s,” says Prince William County Parks’ Water Safety Instructor, Aniyah Henderson.
According to the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, there are over 4500 unintentional drowning deaths each year in the United States, and drowning is the single leading cause of death for children ages 1-4, and the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for children ages 5-14.
In addition to knowing how to swim, supervision of children while swimming is key. The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s “Pool Safely” website recommends that you always supervise children in or near water—never leave them unattended. Drowning is fast and silent and can happen in as little as 20-60 seconds. It is also recommended to learn CPR in case of an emergency. You can view more of their pool safety tips here.
Within Prince William County Parks' pools and water parks, we also have certain rules and policies that are enforced in an effort to maintain a clean, safe and inviting environment for our patrons. Proper swim attire is required in all pools and visitors will not be permitted to swim unless they are wearing a bathing suit. T-shirts, cut-off shorts, sport shorts, or women’s undergarments DO NOT constitute proper swimming attire. To view complete rules as well as answers to frequently asked questions about our water parks before your visit, please visit the respective websites for SplashDown and Waterworks. You can also view hours of operation, pricing, scheduled events and more on the website.
Prince William County Parks’ community pools and water parks will open on weekends beginning Saturday, May 23. Extended hours during the week will begin June 13. For more information including full hours of operation click here.
Safety While On the Water
Whether you’re out on the water paddleboarding, kayaking or canoeing you’ll also want to keep safety top of mind. Every year many boating-related fatalities result in drownings because the individuals were not wearing life jackets.
A federal law requires children under 13 years old to wear an appropriate U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket. This federal law is enforced by the U.S. Coast Guard and most waters in Virginia are considered federal waters. When renting a kayak, canoe, pedal boat, or jon boat from one of our facilities, life jackets are included with rentals. It is always recommended that all adults and children wear life jackets at all times when out on the water.
For more information on kayak and small boat rentals, click here.
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