Safety Tips

Prevention tips include (CDC 2005; Gilchrist et al. 2004; and Quan et al. 2006; CPSC):

• Designate a responsible adult to watch young children while in the bath and all children swimming or playing in or around the water. Adults should not be involved in any other distracting activity (such as reading, playing cards, talking on the phone, or mowing the lawn) while supervising children. See the Water Watchers Page for additional information

• Always swim with a buddy. Select swimming sites that have lifeguards whenever possible. (FIND OUT IF YOUR LIFEGUARD’S HAVE GONE THROUGH THE RIGOROUS TRAINING BY THE RED CROSS.  ALL LIFEGUARDS SHOULD BE CERTIFIED AND PROFESSIONAL IN THEIR POSITIONS). Lifeguard training requirements page.

• Avoid drinking alcohol before or during swimming, boating, or water skiing.  Avoid drinking alcohol while supervising children.

• Learn to swim. Be aware that the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend swimming classes as the primary means of drowning prevention for children younger than 4 years of age. Constant vigilant supervision and barriers such as pool fencing are still necessary even when children have completed classes. (FIND OUT IF YOUR WATER SAFETY INSTRUCTOR’S HAVE GONE THROUGH THE RIGOROUS TRAINING BY THE RED CROSS.  ALL WSI’S SHOULD BE CERTIFIED IN WATER SAFETY INSTRUCTION, CPR AND FIRST AID). WSI Training page.

• Learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Because of the time it might take for paramedics to arrive, your CPR skills can make a difference in someone’s life. CPR performed by bystanders has been shown to improve outcomes in drowning victims. Visit Redding Recreation or Shasta Red Cross for additional information.

• With young children, do not use air-filled or foam toys, such as water wings, noodles, or inner-tubes, in place of life jackets (personal flotation devices). These toys are not designed to keep swimmers safe.

If you have a swimming pool at your home:

• Install a four-sided, isolation pool fence that totally separates the house and yard from the pool area. The fence should be at least 4 feet high and should completely separate the pool from the house and play area of the yard. Use self closing and self latching gates that open outward, and have latches that are out of a childs reach. Consider additional barriers such as automatic door locks or alarms to prevent or notify you regarding access to the yard or pool.

• Toys should be removed from the pool immediately after use. Floats, balls and other toys might encourage children to enter the pool area or lean over the pool and potentially fall in.

If in or around natural bodies of water:

• Know the local weather conditions and forecast before swimming or boating. Strong winds and thunderstorms with lightning strikes are dangerous.

• Use US Coast Guard approved life jackets when boating, regardless of distance to be traveled, size of boat, or swimming ability of boaters.

• Heed colored beach warning flags.

• Watch for dangerous waves and signs of rip currents (e.g. water that is discolored and choppy, foamy, or filled with debris). If you are caught in a rip current, swim parallel to shore; once free of the current, swim toward shore.

Laws affecting Shasta Lake boaters and designed to improve safety on California's waterways:

AB 2538- As of January 1, 2001, all children under 12 years of age are required to wear a life jacket while underway in a vessel of 26 feet or less. (Existing law required children under 7 years of age to wear life jackets.) The new law also requires water skiers to wear life jackets, as well as all users of personal watercraft.

AB 2045- As of January 1, 2001, requires any person convicted of a moving violation while operating a vessel complete a boating safety course. County ordinance 12.24.090 and 12.24.100A Speed Zones - Shasta Lake

As of March 23, 1999- No person shall operate a motorboat at a speed in excess of five miles per hour within one hundred feet from any shoreline or anchored vessel; no person shall operate a motorboat at a speed in excess of five miles per hour five hundred feet south to five hundred feet north of Antlers Resort, Lakeshore Resort and Tsasdi's Resort boat dock, Lake Shasta.