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