MedLink Health Connections Podcast

Summer Swim Safety with Dr. Elizabeth Reece & Jennifer Rubner, CPNP

• MedLink Georgia • Season 1 • Episode 13

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Summertime in Georgia means fun in the water—but it also brings serious safety concerns. Pediatric experts Dr. Elizabeth Reece and Jennifer Rubner, PNP, share life-saving insights on how to keep kids safe around pools, lakes, and boats.

Drowning is often silent, not dramatic. That’s why constant, undistracted supervision is critical—even for strong swimmers. The conversation covers surprising statistics, such as teens being the second-highest risk group, and offers practical tips, including bright swimwear, secure pool fencing, and clear safety rules.

Natural water adds hidden dangers like currents and submerged objects. Life jackets are essential, no matter your child’s swimming ability. As Dr. Reese shares, even confident swimmers can struggle in real conditions.

Tune in for expert advice that could save lives—and visit medlinkga.org for more family safety resources.

Speaker 1:

Today we're joined by Dr Elizabeth Reese, a pediatrician, and Jennifer Rubner, a certified pediatric nurse practitioner, both from our Banks and Danielsville offices. Together, they'll be sharing valuable insights on water and swimming pool safety. Stay tuned for expert advice you won't want to miss. For expert advice you won't want to miss. Summer's coming up, it's Georgia weather, so it's gonna be hot and humid and everybody wants to hop in the pool, hop in the lake, go swimming, maybe even the creek. That's your thing, not mine.

Speaker 1:

I'm good with the pool. I like to see literally everything. What are some of your best advice to give to parents while watching their children this summer?

Speaker 2:

First of all, we unfortunately having to give this talk every year is because and I'm afraid every family might have a tragic story of someone that they know, a family member, a friend, that has had a tragic outcome with a child as far as water safety goes. So we do repeat this every year, but in just in knowing that many, in many instances these tragic accidents can be avoided and that's really our goal with this is to be as proactive as possible so that we aren't, you know, having these terrible consequences. When we talk about swimming pools, we have just some very when you decide to get a pool in your family, we'd like you to always think that these would just be hard and fast rules with your kids that can never be broken. So you want to explain to your kids why these rules are in place and then be just religious about making sure that the kids are following it. And if you are following it and you make all your children and their friends follow that, there's just never going to be, you know, a lag in doing that. That will explain to them or show them how important these rules are.

Speaker 2:

So, really, the first is just that an adult who can swim should always be present when kids are in or around a pool. If you have to leave the area for any amount of time, even if you think it's just to run in to grab an extra towel, the kids have to be out of the pool and out of the surrounding area. If you have anybody, that's small, because it's just the nature of the beast that they might decide I can't get in, they're going to be right back again and that sometimes in those few seconds is where they can get into trouble. For infants and toddlers, we actually suggest that the adults should be in the pool within arm's reach. Because of them being small, they could take water in and go under so quickly. So being within reach so that you can scoop them out of trouble if they look like they're going to be underneath the water. For older kids, you know if you're out of the pool and on the pool deck, but you need to be paying attention and free from distractions. So just being careful, because we all kind of fall into that habit sometimes when we're looking at our phone or answering messages or working on work things that we have, and again, just that small bit of time can be all that it takes for there to be a tragic accident.

Speaker 2:

After pool rules, we know that anyone who puts in a pool will suggest that they have a fence at least four foot high with no footholds or handholds, that kids could climb into it and no more than four inches between vertical slats so that they can't put a hand in and be able to open the gate.

Speaker 2:

That they have self-closing and self-latching gates and if you are concerned about anyone coming into the pool when you're not there, that that you make sure that that can be locked and that you also remove any ladders for above ground pools, that they couldn't access that ladder and then get into the pool and just have it be your rule that after every use that everything is locked up and tidied and just the kids kind of get used to you going around and making sure that that's all done, nothing where anybody could climb in or get into the pool. Make sure that when they're in the pool that they aren't running on pool decks where things can be slippery. That's something they always have that at public pools, but that's just a common sense safety and not diving in pools that aren't deep enough so that we can avoid any injury from that.

Speaker 1:

I could see how valuable and important this information is because, especially like I know my niece and nephew my nephew has definitely gone to get in the water and then he's like wait, I can't swim. And then you're like we know. And then you're like running towards him and he's just like almost under and you're like no, no, like it's so funny how kids just like don't even think for sometimes just that brief second. They're like you know what I'm just going to get in. And then they're like wait, I can't swim. And that's when the panic kind of sets in and it's so easy to kind of even forget that yourself, like because I know how to swim and I don't have to think about getting in the water and worrying about drowning because I know how to swim. But even that it's just kind of like a mindless task. So, especially with kids, like they're getting in the water with you. When you're not in there, they're still just kind of doing that mindless task of getting in the water and then you're like what?

Speaker 2:

I can tell you two instances where we have had a pool at our house and before that and our kids had swim lessons. And even even with swim lessons, I would always say you still can't go in without us, because you know that anything can happen when you're in there but and don't have a buddy that's in with. So an adult had to be there. But several times that adults told me their children could swim, and because I knew our kids had taken swim lessons to.

Speaker 2:

To me the definition of that means you can stay afloat in the pool, be able to get over to the side and their kids were sinking like stones and I jumped into the pool and pulled out two kids and thought, well, that's not the definition. Swimming is not sinking. So you, really, I, I, you know. Then I got more vigilant about asking what you know, how how much have they swum? So that we made sure that they, they were okay to go in there yeah, you're right, yeah, I know.

Speaker 1:

And when I was younger I took swimming lessons but I was so scared of the deep end that my instructor was like it's okay, we don't have to, we'll, we'll tackle that next summer. And then. So I knew how to swim, but I didn't know how to swim in the deep or just keep myself afloat. So, yeah, that's definitely a good thing to always clarify is like what do you mean by swimming? Because you can swim in the shallow but you're able to touch. So when that panic sits in, you touch the ground and you're fine, but when you're in the deep end it's a little different.

Speaker 2:

And swim lessons aren't really drown-proofing. Because drown proofing? Because a child, even if they're a good swimmer, they could hit their head. They can be entrapped. We had an instance where someone was entrapped under a pool cover like got in when they weren't supposed to. And then that heavy that is like almost impossible for an adult to lift off of them so they can drown because of that.

Speaker 2:

So there's just all sorts of things that can combine an accident with water. And kids are top heavy when they're toddlers, so if they fall, they you know as they fall in head first, and a lot of times if they strike something with their head, then that adds one more layer of making it harder to keep them safe.

Speaker 3:

And there's always that misconception that you know drowning is going to look like it does in, like a movie, where there's like waving and screaming and splashing and they're going to make all this noise and it's mostly virtually silent.

Speaker 3:

The kid is just sinking. And so you know, making it a habit to look at the pool and do a sweep of where the kids are looking at the bottom, do a sweep of where the kids are looking at the bottom. There's a reason that when you go to these public pools or indoor pool grounds that they get up every so many minutes, make everyone get out and do a visualization of the bottom of the pool. And that's because you're not going to see necessarily a big ordeal of a kid drowning, they're just going to sink. And so people still have that misconception that oh yeah, they'll flail and I'll see it. You won't actually. And so having that, you know, almost doing that, that sweeping of the pool with your eyes to know where everyone is, is a good habit to get into. Um, because you never know where somebody might actually end up.

Speaker 2:

And then we did a thing where, if there were multiple kids and you as a parent weren't sure that you could keep head counts on everybody, you might number the kids and then one parent is responsible for one through four and the other will watch five through eight, because you want to keep an eye on everyone, just like Jen said, and it's so important. And also if a parent knows that they have to run to the restroom or they're going to get something to drink, that they kind of tag out to a friend and say, okay, now I need you to watch one through four and if everybody has that talk to make sure that everybody's kept safe and then it can be a really fun environment.

Speaker 2:

But it's it's almost stressful. When I would have family over, I would just always be.

Speaker 1:

I never really got in the pool because I'd sit out and watch and navigate.

Speaker 2:

The other thing. I read this online and was like this is a very good idea. If you know, your pool liner is a blue color, get your kids a different color than the color that the pool liner is, because then they actually can stand out and relief a little bit more and they'll kind of blend into the pool liner.

Speaker 2:

If they were down on the bottom and you wouldn't notice and you've probably read things about how sometimes the suction that's down at the bottom that's recirculating the water in your pool on a small child, that can't. They can get caught in that and then their hair can get entrapped or their suit can get entrapped and then that can lead to drowning. So having something that's got a different color is helpful for it as well, for that visual that's a really good idea.

Speaker 1:

I hadn't read that. Yeah, saw I've seen a couple things of people with summer coming up testing different color bathing suits in the water, Cause even the water's typically kind of that blue, even the liner, but you're like in the Turks and Caicos, that water's really blue as well and you kind of get that same effect. So they were like this is what a neon green bathing suit looks like and how you can see it better than other colors and things like that.

Speaker 2:

And then we'll talk about water safety as well, just in other water environments in addition to swimming pools, because, like you say, in Georgia, a lot of us will swim in lakes or, you know, we'll go boating or kayaking, canoeing.

Speaker 2:

You know, we've got so many great water areas around here. Be aware of, especially if your kids are older and they're going off with friends to partake in any kind of water sport is that childhood drowning risk can decrease after age four, because you think about it from toddler age to about age four, but it will go up again in the teen years. So the adolescents that are 15 to 19 years old have the second highest fatal drowning risk after toddlers that are 12 to 36 months, so one to three year olds, and then again at 15 to 19 years. And partly is that they can overestimate the skills that they have in swimming. Maybe they don't want to be embarrassed when they get invited out, and so they oh, I'm not gonna wear my life jacket, because no one's wearing a life jacket, I'll look like a nerd. So they don't want to wear their life jacket and so they'll put themselves in more dangerous situations because they don't want to do that, or they'll just kind of assume that they can swim, like you mentioned with your knees and neck.

Speaker 1:

They just assume.

Speaker 2:

Everybody else is doing that.

Speaker 2:

I must know how to do that, and then they can't, and sometimes, if they overestimate their skills, they underestimate how dangerous the situation can be. If there's somewhere where there's a current or you know something that could affect how they canoe, or if they're you know, going through that, they could get entrapped in a situation. The other would be just the concern that, too, that this is a time when they're experimenting with things and if they're using any alcohol at all, that that's going to dull their reflexes and it's going to, you know, give them confidence that maybe they shouldn't have and make that more unsafe for them to be in and around water I know with lakes in this area at least, I'm sure everywhere you never know what's under that water.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes there's a whole tree under there and you have no idea and then all of a sudden your bathing suit's caught and you're stuck under with it. Yes, so definitely say, watching for lakes and all those waters where you can't really see the bottom is really crucial.

Speaker 3:

I feel like right, right, part of that swimming in a pool with strong swimming skills is very different than swimming with a current or something that can tug you under. And having strong swimming skills are very, very different things. Um, because you, because you know there's lots of incidences we hear it every year with Lake Lanier, um, you know where, you know there's just there's so much under the water there, um, that people get caught on. So doing that, that diving for things um deeper than you know you should, um not a good idea.

Speaker 3:

Um, you know just especially in those areas that um, you know, just especially in those areas that you know um, those lakes were were man-made or you know, go ahead and assume that they were man-made and that there's something under there. There's a tree, there's a town, there's, you know, an old boat tire, an old boat anchor, anything that you can get caught on and and those are very hard to get um yourself free from, even if you are a strong swimmer and older.

Speaker 2:

And then also just making sure to enter the water feet first, because we see spinal cord accidents that can happen because of diving in places where it was shallower than you assumed or you hit, like you said, any of these underground things or underwater things that you didn't know were there. And then also just making sure when they're boating um, not drinking with boating. And then making sure that people do wear their life vests, because it makes a big difference if you get thrown out of the boat, um, if you're not a strong swimmer but you've got your life vest with you, they'll have time to circle around and get you where you can get into a lot of trouble if it takes a while for them to turn around. In a busy lake, you also have more chance of being seen by other boaters if your head is high above the water.

Speaker 3:

Well, and that's also good advice too, not just for boating. But they like to go out on the individual jet skis or the double jet skis and so they're out and having and water safety. They're out having fun on their jet skis, you know but that you still need to be in a vest, because it's the same thing. You know you turn really fast, they get going really fast, you're going to get thrown. What if you get thrown in the way of a path? What if you get thrown in an area where no one's going to see you for a little bit and then you're relying on? You know either you floating or swimming for a long time. You know like that's not the time to be showing off and being cool to your friends. If you want to ride the jet ski, you need to put the life jacket on and be safe.

Speaker 3:

You know, like that, that's when you're going to have fun is to be safe.

Speaker 2:

And parents. We can set this up if we just make it just a matter of it's just what we do every time that we go in the water, if you make it the expectation and explain to them that if they don't follow the rules, they can't go in, then that will just takes out any sort of negotiating that you have to do with them every time you go out on the water.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for tuning in to the MedLink Health Connections podcast. We hope you found today's episode informative and inspiring. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe, rate and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Remember the information shared in this podcast is for educational purposes only and should not replace professional medical advice. Always consult with your healthcare provider for any medical concerns. Stay connected with us on social media and visit our website at medlinkgaorg for more resources and updates. Until next time, stay healthy and take care.