{"id":7856,"date":"2015-08-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/togethercounts.com\/staying-water-safe-all-year-long\/"},"modified":"2015-08-13T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-08-13T00:00:00","slug":"staying-water-safe-all-year-long","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/togethercounts.com\/es\/staying-water-safe-all-year-long\/","title":{"rendered":"Staying Water-Safe All Year Long"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ZAC<\/a><\/p>\n

Karen Cohn, Co-founder of The ZAC Foundation<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Swimming is a great form of exercise for children during any season of the year, and as a member of the Together Counts\u2122 program we know that swimming is a fun family activity that also keeps the kids active and healthy. While there are plenty of benefits to swimming, just like any other sport, it is important to understand how to properly engage oneself and others in the water to minimize the risk of an accident.<\/p>\n

Sadly, my family is all too familiar with the dangers of water. In 2007 my 6-year-old son Zachary became trapped in the suction of the pool drain in our backyard pool.\u00a0 Zachary was an amazing swimmer \u2013 in fact, it was one of his favorite activities.\u00a0 But while we enrolled Zachary in lessons and made sure he was a strong swimmer, we had no idea about the possible dangers that could be lurking under the water.<\/p>\n

In Zachary\u2019s memory we began The ZAC Foundation, which is dedicated to preparing children and families from coast-to-coast about how to stay safe in the water.<\/p>\n

The best first step in keeping your family safe is to create a Water Safety Plan.\u00a0 A water safety plan does not have to be long or hard to understand.\u00a0 All you need to do is consider how you can stop a water emergency from happening, what things could be used to help someone in a water emergency, and where to get help.\u00a0 We recommend starting with the ABC & Ds of water safety.<\/p>\n