THE SILENT KILLER IN YOUR BACKYARD

    /24-7PressRelease/ - LOS ANGELES, CA, August 06, 2007 - Again this summer, child safety will come under the spotlight as water safety experts attempt to raise awareness and promote ways to reduce child injuries and deaths - particularly in backyard swimming pools.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, The American Pediatrics Association, and the Consumer Products Safety Commission, drowning among children aged 1 to 5 averages 400-500 per year making drowning in backyard swimming pools the highest cause of accidental death for youngsters. Thousands more children suffer permanent brain damage in near-drowning incidents caused when a child is submerged under water for even as little as 45 seconds.

Since Memorial Day, more than 100 children have drowned in backyard pools in the five states that have the highest number of drowning incidents annually. These states include Florida, California, Arizona, Texas, and New York. But no state is immune to these tragedies. Each year, dozens of children drown in backyard swimming pools across the nation.

"Child drowning in swimming pools has reached an epidemic level," said Todd Appleman, president of eSafetyAlert.com, a company that sells the industry's state-of-the art Safety Turtle pool alarm. "We highly recommend parents remain constantly aware of where their child is when there is a pool or other water hazard. Secondly, we recommend a second line of defense such as the Safety Turtle pool alarm."

The Safety Turtle device includes two key components. A Base State receiver monitors wristbands which are worn by young children whenever they are near water. The wristband resembles a Turtle and with a childproof strap, it is locked on to the child's wrist. In the event the child falls into the swimming pool or any other water hazard (the beach, when boating, ponds, etc.), a piercing alarm sounds the instant the child falls into the water. This alerts parents and other adults that the child is in danger.

In addition to constant vigilance, use of a pool alarm, Appleman recommends pool owners have fences that are at least four feet high around their pool, the pool gate must be self closing, preferably equipped with an alarm. Appleman added, "Keeping toys out of the pool area is a good idea and removing anything that might help the child climb over the fence are also highly effective in minimizing the potential for danger."

"The biggest problem is that people don't realize is that the biggest danger in their homes is their backyard swimming pool or any body of water for that matter," said Appleman. "From the moment water enters the lungs, paramedics have less than four minutes to save the child. If the first responders do manage to resuscitate the child after the four-minute period, the chance for permanent brain damage is nearly 100 percent."

Appleman adds, "Almost all accidents can be prevented if safety precautions, such as using pool nets, fencing, self-closing gates with alarms, or pools alarms, had been taken."

For more information, visit www.eSafetyAlert.com.

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