Officials stress ABCs of safety

With Memorial Day soon marking the traditional beginning of beach season, lifeguards and firefighters said it’s only appropriate that May is National Water Safety Month.

National organizations like the Assn. of Pool & Spa Professionals, the World Waterpark Assn. and the National Recreation and Park Assn. joined together this year to raise awareness of water safety.

California leads the nation in drownings, the leading cause of death for children younger than 5, according to the Orange County Fire Chief’s Assn.

Drowning is the second-leading cause of death for children younger than 14.

Officials said it only takes a few basic steps to safeguard from tragedy.

In fact, it’s as easy as A-B-C.

Public safety officials said to ensure a safe trip to the pool, ocean or spa, people should have A: Adult supervision; B: Barriers; C: CPR classes.

Adult supervision is safer than giving a child water-wings or another flotation device, which can fail. Barriers ensure that a child cannot get close enough to a pool or spa to fall in and performing CPR may help save a person’s life or spare them permanent injury in the precious minutes before paramedics arrive.

In a March survey, the American Red Cross found that 87% of the public plans on participating in at least one water-related activity this summer. But less than half of 1,000 people surveyed were trained in CPR or first-aid.

Nearly half of the respondents, 48%, said they’ve had a near-drowning experience, and 60% of those on the West Coast said they’d had one.

Two-thirds of respondents said their near-drowning experiences were in either the ocean, a lake or pond, or public pool.

Costa Mesa firefighters will host a Community Summer Safety Expo Sunday at Fire Station No. 4, 2300 Placentia Ave., across from Estancia High School.