I want to share some information about the importance of water safety for children, and our cousin Brittnie’s quest to become a certified instructor for Infant Swimming Resources (ISR) Self-Rescue program.
Here is her story from her Facebook page where she is gratefully accepting donations to pay a very expensive but worthwhile tuition:
Hello! My name is Brittnie Eversole. I am a mother of two amazing little children. I work part time and I am a full time mother and wife. 🙂
I recently found out that I was accepted into the Infant Swimming Resource program to become and Instructor. Here around the Ennis (TX) area the closest instructors are around Forney and Mineolla. They are both over an hr away (ONE WAY). This makes for a harder time for working parents to be able to take their children to learn such an amazing resource.
After realizing this issue I decided to apply and now that I have been accepted this tuition ($8,000) is a nice chunk of change. I have started fundraising and working hard on making blankets (check out BBSMINKYCO here on fb to see our blankets! All profits go directly to this tuition) to sell to help raise this tuition. I have worked so hard and have been able to get the tuition paid down and as of right now I owe $6,000.
This is where I am asking for YOUR help! I have a goal to get this tuition paid by the end of October! As of right now training is booked until May 2019! The longer it takes me to pay this tuition it will push training back even FARTHER.
With the completion of this program I will have the ability to offer 5 children FREE lessons for the first two years! (Total of 10 children) This also includes refresher courses until the child ages out of the program!! (WHHAAT!!!!)
After these two years I will personally continue offering free lessons to TWO children EACH YEAR!!! (to those who qualify)
PLEASE help me be able to offer this resource closer to home!
Go to Brittnie’s Facebook Donation page and help her if you are able.
You can learn more about her from Brittnie’s Personal Facebook page. She is working very hard for a really great cause.
ISR is the global leader in the industry it pioneered: survival swimming lessons for infants and young children. Highly trained ISR Instructors provide the safest and most effective survival swimming lessons available. ISR’s mission, “Not One More Child Drowns,” is the foundation of everything they do and the driving force behind their committed employees and independent ISR Instructors.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), drowning is the number one cause of accidental death for infants and young children between the ages of 1-4.
Here are 5 Important Keys To Water Safety taken from an article by JoAnn Barnett, President & CEO of ISR:
1. Effective Supervision – The most critical line of defense is adult supervision. No level of aquatic skill can replace active supervision. If your child is ever missing, look in the water first.
2. Pool Fences – Install a permanent 4-sided fence with self-locking gates. Ensure that the pool fence is at least 3-5 feet from the pool edge.
3. Alarms – Make sure all doors and windows leading to the pool are locked and alarmed.
4. Survival Swimming Lessons – A moment’s inattention does not have to cost a child his life. ISR’s Self-Rescue training is an added layer of protection, teaching your child water survival skills in a completely safe environment.
5. CPR – If an emergency happens, it is essential parents and families are prepared. Learn to perform CPR on children and adults and remember to update those skills regularly.
Download ISR’s Family Aquatic Safety List for your home. Select (click) the image to download the PDF.
And remember, even if your child has had swimming lessons, no child is drown-proof and there is absolutely no substitute for adult supervision!
Here are two ISR videos. The first is the Roll-Back-to-Float sequence for 6-12 month olds, and the second is the Swim-Float-Swim for 1-6 year olds.
And lastly, here are some additional water safety tips from Safe Kids Worldwide. Select (click) the image to download the PDF.
Be safe!
PS- And while you’re here, checkout our other blog posts and take a look at our car seats, high chairs, and baby beds. Thanks for your continuing support!