Physical Excellence Friday: Water Rescue

"Our definition of Physical Excellence includes being able to solve any physical problem encountered during life. This may include saving one's own life, or saving someone else's." 

-Douglas Doman, How to Teach Your Baby to Swim

Our swimming goals for this summer didn't used to include water rescue skills, except maybe self-rescue.

But it just sort of came up in the course of our swimming adventures. A lot of what-if's.

Here are some of the beginning water-rescue skills we have been working on:

• Throw, Don't Jump  The first thing we talked about was the use of the life preserver and other items available to throw out for someone who is drowning or distressed in the water. We talked about why it is dangerous to jump in for someone who is distressed, because in their panic they can cause both of you to drown. 

• Practice Throwing Assist  We brainstormed different things that could be thrown out to a distressed person to pull them in, including the life preserver with rope, the looped pole (stored near life preserver), and some other unconventional things, such as an out stretched towel or a hose. We also practiced why it is important to kneel or lay down when using a throwing assist, so you don't get pulled in, and to be very careful to throw the item near, not on, the person, so as to not knock them unconscious or cause more damage.

• Calling 911 No practice calls here, but we have talked about how to get help, specifically calling 911, and the Check-Call-Care procedure of checking the person, calling 911, then caring for them until more help arrives.

In another post I will talk about water safety and Douglas Doman's recommendations for things to teach your tiny child.

We are going to start talking about rescue breathing, CPR, and other first aid procedures from my American Red Cross manual. 

I figure, it's important to learn now. Because you're never too young to learn, and the younger and more frequently you learn something, the more it sticks. 

The more it becomes internal, permanent, and automatic.

And because kids are always full of surprises. So they may just one day surprise us with being a lot more capable than we give them credit for.

"He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions." 

Daniel 6:27

Hunter is 5 years, 5 months old

Sunny-Side Up in the Water: Learning How to Float

Yay for back floating!

Surprisingly Hunter was unable to do this until recently. I have seen people teach little babies how to float on their backs as a life-saving technique if they were ever to fall in the water. I'm not sure how they did it though. Hunter was first introduced to back-floating in his brief YMCA swimming class when he was two. But for the life of me I have not been able to get him to do it until this summer.

He hated it!

He actually did this for the first time during our long Fourth of July weekend camping. We had been practicing a little bit most every time we swam, and he finally built up the confidence (and balance) to independently defy gravity (well, sort of).

I have now started a new technique.

Instead of helping him by lifting him up to his back and then gently releasing him to float, I have been, well, not helping him. I usually throw him in and have him flip over and kick up his legs himself. He even ends up getting a little water splashed in his face or moving waves sent his way while trying to stay relaxed. (I'm lovely, I know)

But in the end my playful antics have helped him become a better floater and, more importantly, he has learned to use this technique to rest and relax despite the circumstances. Because I think that, even more than a wonderful exercise in balance, full body control, and as a result of that - brain development - that it is good to be able to rest and stay calm while mid water. You know, just in case.

His current time floating: two minutes. It was originally thirty seconds at a time.

I hope to be able to work up to five minutes straight by the end of the summer. But either way, we'll see. We're just having fun and learning something in the process, as always.

"Now therefore be not grieved... for God did send me before you to preserve life." 

Genesis 45:5

Hunter is 5 years, 4 months old

Stop, Drop, and Roll

About a week ago we had our mandatory fire safety orientation with the base's fire chief.

She came in and went over a bunch of fire safety procedures, showing us how to test the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, showing us where the breakers are, handing out some brochures and fridge magnets, etc.

Hunter, who was watching and listening (and being a bit too talkative during the demonstrations) offered his advice when she inquired what he would do if there was a fire in the house.

"Get water." he says.

We both laughed but, not exactly the answer she was looking for.

Next he offered, "I would hide in the closet."

Great I'm thinking. Can you tell that this is perhaps an area Mommy hasn't really taught yet?

But no, it gets better. Next he says he would jump out the window. (I think this kid has seen too many movies). At least, though, that is a possibility in a dire situation. I'll give him that.

I could tell I had my hands full.

Thankfully, though, this week just happened to be Fire Prevention Week, in honor of the great Chicago fire on October 8th of 1871. And there just happened to be a Fire Safety open house at the base fire station tonight. How convenient is that?

I have been wanting to take him on a field trip to a fire station for forever, so this was the perfect little coincidence (and wake up call).

It was really cool how they set up the open house. When you got there, you were given a little card with six little pictures representing the different activities to do. After you did each activity, you got your card stamped, and once your whole card was done, you turned it in for a bag full of goodies (a bunch of fire-safety themed toys - comic book, magnet, plastic cup, pencil, bracelet, ruler, fire hat... I forget what else). These are the activities he did:

Exhibit 1: Stop, drop, cover your face and roll activity (picture above)
A fireman demonstrated to the kids what to do if your clothes catch on fire, and explained why. They stuck a felt "fire" on the kids and let them practice.

Exhibit 2: Put out the fire
This was just for fun. There was a little wooden house frame they had built that had hinged "fires" in each window. The goal: "put out" the fires by knocking them down with the power hose.








Exhibit 3: Bucket brigade
They had this fun activity to demonstrate how fires were put out before the invention of the fire hose: a long, long line of lots of helpers passing buckets down the line until the fire was gone.




Exhibit 5: Fireman's hose
He got to try out a real fire hose (with some help). Boy are those things powerful! And they didn't even have it on full blast.






Exhibit 6: Dress up
He got to try on the fire suit, talked about how it protects them from the flames, talked about the purpose of the reflective gear, the helmet, etc. He also got to see how they store the suits so they can put them on really fast when the alarm goes off.







Exhibit 7: Smoke house
This was probably the best. They went inside the smoke house (trailer) and talked about what to do in a smoking building. They practiced crawling under the smoke, how to feel a door to see if it's hot (and, if so, do not open it), how to wave a cloth or similar item outside a window to signal for help, and how to properly climb out of a window ladder.






He also got to: check out the inside of a fire truck; get a good look at the inside of an the engine; watch the extendable ladder being raised; watch an actual fire being put out and how to properly use a fire extinguisher; get his picture taken with Sparky the fire dog; check out the fire station; eat cookies and lemonade; and more!

What a fun, incredible evening we had!

And, on top of all the fun, it is nice to know that he is a bit more fire safe now. (And, by the way, on the way home he told me that if there was a fire in the house, he would "run out as fast as I can" and "call the fireman".) Our "meeting place" is at the mailbox, which is a couple houses down. And we're talking about when and how to call 911. Should he ever need to.

"Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine." 

Job 18:5

Hunter is 4 years, 6 months old