American Red Cross releases online Home Pool Safety PDF Print E-mail

The American Red Cross is pleased to announce another tool to help South Florida families stay safe while enjoying the summer!  To help families learn the information they need in an easy to access format, the Red Cross released Home Pool Essentials™:  Maintenance and Safety.  The American Red Cross and the National Swimming Pool Foundation collaborated on the development of the program, which continues the Red Cross tradition of teaching people to be safer in, on and around water.


The new course is especially important in light of the latest statistics for drowning of children less than 5 years of age.  Last year, nearly 300 children died as a result of drowning last year, and of that number, nearly 79 percent occurred in residential pools.  In South Florida, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties had one of the highest drowning rates in the country for children less than 5 years of age.

For only $19.95, participants in the online course will receive six months of access to the online content, a printable user guide to compliment the online course and a record of completion.  The online course includes maintenance topics like:

  • How a Pool Works
  • Common Water Problems
  • Water Testing:  Water Clarity
  • Adding Chemicals
  • How a Filter Works

Participants will also learn basic skills needed to respond to an emergency while in, on or around water, including:
  • Preventing Accidents
  • Knowing How to Respond
  • Preventing Unsupervised Access
  • Watching Children Around Water
  • Preventing Pool and Hot Tub Entrapment Hazards

In addition to completing the online course, the American Red Cross recommends taking at least one of the following courses to be better prepared for an emergency around water:

To access the course, participants may visit http://www.homepoolessentials.org.  Be sure that your home pool is safe for the summer with a 2-hour online course from the most trusted name in aquatics - the American Red Cross!