Community Corner

Kaiser Permanente Funds Swim Lessons in L.A.

Trish Delgado, aquatics supervisor for the city of Angeles, stressed the important of swim lessons and other safety measures.

With more schools letting children out for summer vacation, Angelenos should follow some simple rules around the pool to help prevent drownings, a city official said Monday.

The second leading cause of death among children aged 1 to 14 is drowning, making swim lessons and other safety measures important this time of year, Trish Delgado, aquatics supervisor for the city of Angeles, told Video News West at Stoner Park Pool in West Los Angeles.

"Basic survival skills—learning to swim and being able to float—are essential to prevent drownings," Delgado said.

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Children should also swim only at a public pool where a lifeguard is on duty or at a private pool with a water monitor present, according to Delgado.

"That's not the person that's doing the barbecuing. That's not the person talking on their cell phone or anything," Delgado said. "The sole thing they should be doing is ensuring the safety of the kids at the pool."

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For those who can't afford lessons, Kaiser Permanente announced Monday that it is providing a $265,000 grant to the aquatics divisions of the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks to fund Operation Splash, a free summer program that teaches children and adults in low-income areas to swim.

The American Red Cross also recommends that everyone in a family learns to swim well, and that children be taught to always ask permission to go near water.

Learn more summer safety tips at redcross.org.

—City News Service


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