Drowning Awareness Alyssa Rodriguez Madison Post Background 1

Drowning Awareness Alyssa Rodriguez Madison Post

Background 1 in 5 people who die from drowning are children 14 and younger. 2005 -2014 average of 3, 536 deaths from drowning annually in the United States. 91 deaths in Arizona in 2014 from drowning. Arizona drowning deaths twice the national average. In Arizona most of these deaths happen between June and Labor day.

Inspiration We both work with children and hear so many local stories on the news, and medias about the high rates of child deaths caused by drownings. Our goal is to reduce the reported cases of drownings in the community and spread awareness. We also have participated in the Basha Swim and Dive team for 4 years and have been apart of a club team since our early teens. We were certified as Lifeguards our sophomore year from the course provided within school.

Explanation The plan is for us to spread awareness about drowning and pool safety to children, so they will be cautious of what to do and what not to do around water. And to help the children understand the importance of water safety. We want to explain to them the rules and how they should be around the water.

Continued Our first step of action was to go to a local elementary and talk to a third grade class to explain about the importance of drowning. So we picked to do Hull elementary and we contacted a 3 rd grade teacher and scheduled a day to talk to the kids.

Continued We want to educate the community on drowning awareness. We feel with hearing helpful tips from older adults will help these kids understand the importance and spread the word to their friends about the issue.

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BHS Benevolence- We helped the younger generation become aware of the issues in the community due to water safety. Honor- The children develop a sense of respect towards their surroundings, and near water. Scholarship- This applies how they are learning at higher level of education about this situation.

Impact on Others With us talking to the little kids, we believe it will impact their lives drastically because them having an older role model to look up to, other than their parents or family members so they are more cautious about pool safety.

Impact on Us This project impacted us by realizing the importance of this issue and how critical just a small amount of information could affect someone's life. The knowledge of what to do in these kind of scenarios could prevent multiple deaths. As involved members of the community it was an eye opener to notice the dangers and help teach a younger population safety tips.

Works Cited Holder, Erika “Lifeguards A Forgotten Aspect of Drowning Prevention” Department of Psychology, University of Alabama 2010 Web. 23 Feb. 2016. Phoenix Children’s Hospital “Water Safety Information for Parents” 2013 Web. 23 Feb. 2016. Relihan, P. C “Child Drowning Accidents in Arizona” Arizona Injury Law Firm Web. 23 Feb. 2016. Sashin, Daphne “First Aid Drowning” Parents Magazine Web. 2016 1 Mar. 2016. Sexton, Connie Cone “Arizona child drowning: More dying. despite warnings” The Arizona Republic 2011 Web. 23 Feb. 2016. Smouse, Rebecca “Phoenix-area drownings already match 2013 total” The Republic 2014 Web. 23 Feb, 2016. Vittone, Mario “Drowning Doesn’t Look like Drowning” 2012 Web. 1 Mar. 2016