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WATER SAFETY FROM PAGE 1
to help in a water incident. It will also support the aquatics division with a fire truck and personnel on hand. Tom Dwiggins, of the Chandler Fire Department, says, “The aquatics and the fire department work together. They’re really the lead people on the whole Hamilton pool event and we’re the lead on the actual walks, where we go around and walk and put door hangars on the doors with our water safety message. It’s a supportive role. We support them in turn by teaching CPR lessons and then they support us by bringing out volunteers and helping us distribute fliers.” Firefighters will be on hand to talk about water safety, including the eye-toeye campaign, pool fences and the need for a barrier between children and a pool, and the importance of CPR and the role it plays in determining the outcome of drowning. Parents can have children tested for the appropriate swim level and sign up for swim classes on that day. “We have swimming classes year round in the City of Chandler,” Bellus explains. “Whatever works for them. December is the only month of the year when we don’t have swimming lessons.” The day will also be promoting sun safety. “We have a little booth where we talk about ways to stay safe in the sun. Not only staying hydrated and wearing sun screen, but all the things you can do—sunglasses, hats, long sleeves, staying in the shade—just little tips and tricks,” Bellus says. She says that last year more than 200
SAFETY FIRST: Hamilton Aquatic Center is hosting Water Safety Awareness Day March 22. The free event offers the opportunity for children to be tested for swimming levels and sign up for swim classes. STSN photo by Tracy House
people participated in Water Safety Awareness Day. She estimates that 30 to 35 kids were swim tested last year as well and adds the aquatics facilities test children for swim levels at any time—no appointment is necessary. “In 2013 we had 9,690 participants in swimming lessons,” Bellus says. “It’s a lot of fun. We have a lot of people and we teach a lot of swimming lessons. We have six facilities and four of those teach swimming lessons in the morning and the evening.” The need for water safety awareness is something that the city and the fire
department take seriously. According to Dwiggins, in 2012 Chandler had more than 18 water-related incidents. In 2013 Chandler recorded seven water related incidents, unfortunately one of those was a fatality. “That’s all it takes is one,” says Dwiggins. “That’s all it takes for us to continue to be aggressive and getting the message out there about watching your kids around water.” While there has been a decrease, Dwiggins says he hopes to see the trend go downward. “We make it a point that any time we’re out in the public...we have a few messages. Make sure you have a functioning and working smoke detector and then especially around the summer time, we talk about drowning—making sure to watch the kids around water.” The message is something that resonates year round. Dwiggins explains that CPR classes are available throughout the year. “You can go through our website, which is www. chandlerfire.org and get information about CPR lessons. You can call down to our headquarters and you can sign up for classes monthly.” This includes certification in CPR. “Part of our campaign—the education portion of it—is not only CPR, but getting your child in swim lessons,” says Dwiggins. “The sooner we can get our kids swimming lessons and teach them tools that they need to learn how to swim, the better it is.” The Chandler Fire Department is sponsoring a water safety walk on March 29. “We’re going to walk 15,000 homes and
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put fliers out there. It basically gives our message of water safety,” says Dwiggins. The department is looking for volunteers to help distribute the fliers. Interested volunteers can meet at 9 a.m. at the Desert Oasis Aquatic Center, 1400 W. Summit Pl. to help. Groups and organizations are welcome to participate in the water safety walk. For more information call (480) 782-2175. Chandler aquatics facilities welcomed 301,000 participants last year. “We get a lot of that over the seven or eight weeks over the summer,” Bellus comments. She says that each of the facilities has one night per week of free swimming and one night for the entire family to swim for $1. “Those days rotate...so you can pretty much go to any one of the six facilities and swim for free or pay a dollar.” Information about these nights is available on the Chandler Aquatics calendar. Hamilton Aquatic and Mesquite Groves Aquatic, 5901 S. Hillcrest Dr., Chandler, will be open for spring break. For a list of specific dates and times, visit www.chandleraz.gov/ content/14SpringBTPage21.pdf. “We are a fun facility. We are a fun city,” Bellus says. “Have some good oldfashioned fun outside before it gets too hot.” For more information about Water Safety Awareness Day, visit www. chandleraz.gov/aquatics or call (480) 7822749. Tracy House is the news editor for the SanTan Sun News. She can be reached at tracy@santansun.com.