Health, safety & stewardship

Care goes beyond
the water.

A pool is a place to come together. Make safety part of the everyday routine, with resources for the people who swim, supervise and care for it.

Kate holding a life preserver marked Haolys

National Drowning Prevention Alliance

Protection works in layers.

NDPA brings five complementary layers together to help reduce drowning risk. No single precaution replaces the others.

Barriers & alarms
Use barriers that separate children from water, including four-sided fencing with gates that close and latch themselves. Explore safety covers and alarms as additional layers.
Supervision
Assign a capable adult to watch closely and continuously when children are in or around water. Keep the watcher’s attention on the water.
Water competency
Build swimming and water-safety skills for children and adults. Lessons are one layer; supervision still matters.
Life jackets
Use appropriately fitted, U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets when needed, especially around open water. Pool toys are not safety equipment.
Emergency preparation
Learn CPR with rescue breaths and water-rescue skills through training. Keep a phone available to call 911 in an emergency.

Explore NDPA’s five layers ↗

Adapted from NDPA’s Layers of Protection. For an immediate emergency, call 911.

Healthy swimming

Clear water is only part of the picture.

Make healthy habits routine.

Balanced disinfectant and pH help reduce germs, but treatment does not kill every germ instantly. Shower before swimming, avoid swallowing pool water and stay out when you have diarrhea.

Explore healthy-swimming habits →

CDC healthy-swimming guidance ↗