Near Drowning In Palm Springs Spotlights Kids And Water Safety

News of a near drowning Monday in Palm Springs of an 11-month old girl, once again turned the spotlight on kids and water safety.

At a swimming school in Palm Desert, it’s common for instructor Helene Barker to take on students as young as 6 months old.

Besides teaching the kids the basics of swimming, she also stresses pool safety in and around the pool and that goes for the parents too. Barker says she stresses how parents can’t afford to ever leave their child un-supervised.

“It only takes a moment to turn your back to pick up the phone to run in the house to get a drink of water, whatever, and you come back and your child’s on the bottom of the pool. Always watch your child even if they know how to swim. You still need to supervise them,” said Barker.

Besides encouraging parents to place child proof fences around their pools and alarms on home doors. Barker says parents should always have a phone near the pool in case of an emergency.