7 Essential Skills to Learn In an Online Water Safety Course

The CDC reports that every year, over 4,000 people die in drowning accidents across the United States. If you work or volunteer in a role that involves water, there are a few crucial water safety skills you need to learn. An online water safety course is an excellent way to develop this lifesaving knowledge.

Let's take a deep dive into the world of water safety skills and learn more about seven essential lessons you will learn in your course.

1. Drowning Awareness

We all understand what drowning is, but there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. We may imagine a person calling out, with arms flailing, desperately trying to get help. But the reality is that is often not the way drowning happens.

An online safety course will help you to appreciate that drowning may involve:

• Children between the ages of 1-4 (the most vulnerable to drowning)
• No noise at all
• Just a few seconds
• Any location where there is water, not just deep water

Understanding different scenarios that can lead to drowning will help you to become drowning-aware. When you have understood these water safety basics, you'll be ready to move on to identifying and reducing risk factors.

2. Identify Factors That Increase Drowning Risk

Different bodies of water pose different risks. Water safety training will help you to identify factors that make drowning incidents more likely.

For example, natural bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, and oceans have waves and currents. Vegetation and rocks may be lurking beneath the surface. These natural features can be dangerous to swimmers of all levels of experience.

Artificial bodies of water, such as swimming pools, can be especially dangerous for young or inexperienced swimmers. The course will equip you with the skills to evaluate bodies of water quickly to identify risks and take measures to reduce them.

3. Understand Other Hazards Around Water

While drowning is the greatest risk to all swimmers, other risks can ultimately lead to this tragic outcome. The course will discuss several of these, including:

• Cold water shock: Entering water that is colder than expected can cause a person to start gasping for air and breathing rapidly. This may be followed by a rapid rise in heart rate and blood pressure. Cognitive impairment can quickly follow.
• Marine life hazards: Jellyfish and other aquatic creatures can pose a risk to swimmers and cause them to quickly get into difficulties.
• Slip-and-fall hazards: The paving around swimming pools can become very slippery, increasing the risk of individuals falling into the water and getting into difficulty.

You need more than strong swimming skills to tackle these kinds of issues. You need to know how to get people to safety while also protecting yourself and others. An online water safety course can give you the skills and confidence to do that.

4. What To Do if Someone Is Drowning

One of the most important water safety skills for anyone who works around water is knowing what to do when someone gets into difficulties.

If you act on instinct, the chances are you will endanger your own life and that of the drowning person. The course will teach you how to safely help a drowning individual without sacrificing your own well-being.

Online water safety courses vary, but may include:

• Surveillance techniques
• Rescue techniques, including wading, reaching, and throwing rescues
• How to communicate clearly and concisely in an emergency
• Applying local regulations around water safety

This training will give you the survival skills you need to confidently care for others as they enjoy the water.

5. Using Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs)

Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs) are vital water safety tools that everyone should know how to use. The ones we think of most commonly are lifejackets, and there is more to them than meets the eye. The course will explore buoyancy ratings and how to provide the right jacket for each individual.

It will also explore how to use throw rings and other flotation devices in an emergency.

6. Handling Biological and Chemical Hazards

Sadly, many waterways are not as clean as we would like them to be. Do you know how to spot a contaminated body of water that is not safe for swimming?

An online water safety course will teach you the telltale signs that there are biological or chemical hazards you need to avoid. With wild swimming becoming increasingly popular, it has never been more crucial to identify contaminants that could seriously sicken those under your care.

7. How to Comply with OSHA Regulations

All employers understand the importance of complying with regulations published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). These regulations protect workers across every industry, including those whose work potentially involves contact with water.

Some OSHA regulations related to water include:

• Employees who work near water must have lifejackets approved by the US Coast Guard
• Ring buoys must be provided
• A lifesaving skiff must be in place near any location where people work above or next to water

An online water safety course will review these regulations in detail and help you understand how they relate to your job role. This can give you the confidence to keep yourself and others safe at work and recognize areas where your organization needs to make improvements.

Book Your Online Water Safety Course

No one can afford to take chances when it comes to water safety. Thankfully, the online water safety course from Compliance Training Online can equip your workers with exactly what they need.

The course trains people who work around water to identify hazards and reduce risks. They will know what to do if they suspect a person is drowning to give them the best chance of survival.

Contact us to learn more and to book yourself or a team onto the course!