I’m a lifeguard – a popular water safety gear ‘teaches kids to sink’ and you should keep infants upright after swimming
COOLING down at your local pool or with a beach trip might be the key to surviving the summer heat.
One lifeguard has taken to TikTok to highlight the importance of water safety this summer season.
Syrah Alyse, 21, spoke exclusively to The U.S. Sun about the hazards people tend to overlook when they go for a swim.
The Arizona native, who has worked at an outdoor pool for five years, revealed that most rescues she and her colleagues perform are in the shallow end of the pool.
“[Parents] always say ‘stay away from the deep end’ but if their kid is only three feet tall in four feet of water they can slip under,” Syrah explained.
She continued: “They can drift into deeper water so quickly that they don’t even realize and it only takes 30 seconds for a journey to happen.”
The water safety expert also spoke about the risk that can be posed to your children hours after exiting the water.
Often when weaker swimmers or young children are out of their depth, they begin to panic and may inhale water.
Syrah explained that just two tablespoons of water can be lethal for an adult to inhale.
“[When] secondary drowning happens, it can happen any time for up to 24 hours after the incident occurred,” the lifeguard said.
She continued: “I actually just recently learned that you’re supposed to keep [infants] upright for two hours after having them in the water because the tubes in their ears aren’t fully formed yet.
“So they can still secondary drown just from water being trapped if they lay down or fall asleep,” Syrah said.
When it comes to swimwear, the lifeguard revealed the color to always avoid.
“Light blue, dark blue or even light purple swimsuits can be dangerous,” she explained.
Syrah continued: “Even at the bottom of our pool, it’s only eight feet but when they get down there and they’re wearing those colors or have light hair they’re just gone.
“The water distorts them so much that they just look like a shadow at the bottom of the pool,” the lifeguard said.
Other items which Syrah advises against include inflatable arm floaties, which she said are known to easily slip off, mermaid tales, and puddle jumpers.
“Mermaid tales scare me, nobody should ever get in the water with their legs tied together,” she said.
The lifeguard also pointed out that puddle jumpers are more likely to “teach your kid how to sink” and should be replaced with lifejackets.
However, the water safety veteran explained that while lifejackets are great when learning how to swim, they also aren’t without their risks.
“People don’t really think about it but even leaving their kid alone in the pool with a lifejacket [can be dangerous],” she said.
Syrah explained: “If they can’t get it off, they can have a friend take it off.”
So what are her tips for weaker swimmers who may find themselves in difficulty?
“I always say to people ‘If you cannot swim, try to float on your back,'” Syrah said.
“If you can keep that air and float, just stay calm because the biggest problem is panicking,” she added.
For more water safety tips from Syrah, you can visit her TikTok account @syrahtravels.