FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Capt. Dave Wheaton, Lee County Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
                (941) 335-1661

FORT MYERS, Fla. (August 28, 2001) – Lee County and the Lee County Health Department are teaming up to teach local four- and five-year-olds to swim – a program designed to help prevent drownings by youngsters.

The Learn to Swim Safely Program is funded through a $59,239 grant from the Florida Department of Health and a 25 percent match of funds ($19,746) from Lee County. The program will be administered by the local Health Department’s Injury Prevention Section with assistance from Lee County EMS and Parks & Recreation, the Lee County Injury Prevention Coalition and the Drowning Prevention Task Force.

The Board of Lee County Commissioners unanimously approved the program at its weekly meeting today.

The program will be aimed at day care centers and has the goal of teaching 790 children to swim. Children who participate will be provided transportation daily from their day care facilities to nearby county or city pools. Each session will last two weeks.

Lee County Emergency Dispatch records show that EMS responded to 85 near drownings and nine drownings during 1999 and 2000, with 57 of those being children between the ages of one and 10. Of the calls, 51 took place in residential pools with six confirmed drownings.

A review of the data by local agencies identified a need for a comprehensive "Learn to Swim Safely" program for four- and five-year-olds who do not have swimming or water-safety skills. Because many four- and five-year-olds are in a day care setting during work days (2,864 local children, according to Child Care of Southwest Florida), it was determined that the program should be marketed directly to the day cares.

An EMS survey of the 126 licensed local day cares indicated 50 would be interested in such a program.

The children will participate in eight, 30-minute American Red Cross "Learn to Swim Safely" sessions conducted by Lee County Parks and Recreation Aquatics lifeguards. Upon completion of the program, each participant will have learned enough swimming skills to swim or stay afloat while waiting to be rescued. An education component for the parents of the children also will be provided.

Each parent will receive a brochure outlining the objectives of the program. Upon program completion, parents will be invited to attend a weekend open house at a pool to observe the swim and water-safety skills their children have learned. The parents also will participate in a basic water rescue skills session, including rescue breathing and CPR techniques.