Teaching Young Children Swim Survival Skills

Purpose

This study is designed to evaluate whether commercially-available swim self-rescue schools are effective to teach children ages 12-23 months to stay safely alive floating in the water (or grasping the pool's edge) without adult intervention. The investigators will measure children's water self-rescue skills at baseline and then they will engage in commercially-available training over the course of several weeks. The investigators will then measure their skills again. Assessments will be conducted using a standardized protocol with a certified lifeguard present. Parents will also complete a short survey concerning child and family demographics and child and family swim and lifeguard training experience.

Condition

  • Drowning

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Between 12 Months and 23 Months
Eligible Genders
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Inclusion Criteria

  • child ages 12-23 months - enrolled in self-rescue course at participating swim facility

Exclusion Criteria

  • medical conditions counter-indicating training in water - previous experience in self-rescue swim courses

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
N/A
Intervention Model
Single Group Assignment
Primary Purpose
Prevention
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
self-rescue training 		children will receive self-rescue training from a certified instructor
  • Behavioral: self-rescue training
    children will receive training for self-rescue if they are alone in water

More Details

Status
Active, not recruiting
Sponsor
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Study Contact