Welcoming groups of children at the pool and at the beach
Planning is crucial when welcoming groups of children at the pool and at the beach. Some of these children will not know how to swim, so you will need to pay special attention to them. Here is some advice on how to welcome groups of children:
- Welcoming groups of children: Apply your protocol regarding groups of children, review safety rules with the children and explain them where they should swim according to their height and the depth of each zone.
- Evaluating their swimming abilities Have the children take a swimming test, identify non-swimmers and weak swimmers, and have them wear a PFD, if needed.
- Reinforcing safety rules with accompanying adults: Ask accompanying adults to ensure children stay in the right zone.
- Identifying each person's role: For example, lifeguards are exclusively responsible for supervising the pool, including its bottom, while accompanying adults supervise the slide and diving boards, and ensure children who should be wearing a PFD do so.
- Immediate research of the pool's bottom when a child is lost: Review the procedure with the accompanying adults, and immediately look for the child in the water and at the bottom of every pool in the facility.
- Evacuating the pool: Proceed to a weekly pool evacuation drill with children.
For more information, consult the Supervision of Aquatic Activities for Groups of Children Guide.
Photo credit: Réseau aquatique Drummondville - Andréanne Lemire