A Program Making Strides in Water Safety for Infants and Young Children

The horrifying image of a nine-month-old little boy who drowned in a drainage canal forty-six years ago still keeps Dr. Barnett awake at night. That’s why Dr. Barnett, a pioneer for children’s water safety and survivor skills, labors twenty hours each day, with only four hours of sleep per night. “I looked into the sky in 1966 and told God, whatever I have to do to solve this problem, I’ll do it. It’s taken me 46 years, but today we’ve trained 250,000 babies and educated their families. We’re doing it; we’re saving lives,” says Dr. Barnett with a noticeable degree of satisfaction.
For Harvey Barnett, Ph.D., the founder of Infant Swim Resource, his mission began as the result of witnessing this youngster’s tragic drowning. At the time, the issue of aquatic survival for infants and young children was not being addressed by anyone. When Dr. Barnett witnessed this horrific event, he was 18 years old and worked as the head lifeguard at both the beach and pool associated with Florida’s Patrick Air Force Base. He pledged, then and there, that he would make it his life’s goal to help prevent childhood drowning.
Drowning is the leading cause of death in children one to four years of age. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), about ten people die every day from unintentional drowning. More than 55 percent of near-drowning victims treated in the emergency room require hospitalization, while many suffer severe brain damage and permanent disabilities, such as loss of basic functioning, and/or remain in a vegetative state or coma. CDC states that nearly 80 percent of the children who die from drowning are male.

In 1966, Dr. Barnett began to work on his lifesaving dream by establishing Infant Swim Resource, (ISR), a nationally recognized program with an impressive record as the safest and most comprehensive drowning prevention swimming program for babies and toddlers from six months to six years old. “For nearly half a century I’ve done the research and developed the technique. Infant Swim Resource is well recognized throughout the country for its highly trained instructors. Currently, over 250,000 babies have been through the program, which translates to 500,000 parents and families who are now educated on the principles of child water safety,” says Dr. Barnett.

Presently, Infant Swim Resource, with its behavioral science-based instruction program focused on safety and effectiveness, has had over 800 documented cases of children using the survival and self-rescue swimming techniques they learned at Infant Swim Resource to save themselves from drowning.

Here are three lifesaving tips that Dr. Barnett wants to share with us designed to keep a child safe when in and around water, and prevent what is essentially a needless tragedy.

• Institute Segmented Supervision –

“When you are going to be in and around the water with your child, set a timer for a block of time: 10, 20 or 30 minutes. During that time, don’t do anything except watch your child. That means no cell phone, no texting, no sitting beside the pool reading a magazine and thinking that, should something happen, you’ll hear the splash if the child falls into the water,” says Dr. Barnett. “Supervision has to be one-on-one with segmented time.”

• Install a pool fence with an alarmed intelligent gate –

“You need to have more than a self-latching gate on a fence. This is a gate that when opened, a buzzer or loud noise sounds,” says Dr. Barnett.

• Enroll your child in infant swimming resource lessons offered by a certified instructor–

“What Infant Swimming Resource represents is a safe and effective technique, with an incredible amount of data and research to support the technique,” says Dr. Barnett.” We are the experts offering experience in the safe and effective education for a quarter of a million children and their parents.”

**For more information on ISR, water and swim safety, or to find an instructor in your area, please visit Infantswim.com.