Baby swim course could be a life-saver
With summer just around the corner, Sue Goldberg wants parents to remember one thing: "Drowning is a preventable tragedy." And it's preventable even for 6-month-olds.
The longtime swimming instructor from Florida is visiting the South Shore to pass on her skills at the Weymouth Health and Fitness Club.
"Our goal is to get to every baby before they get to the water," said Goldberg, a certified master instructor in the Infant Swimming Resource program.
The ISR movement began in Florida 40 years ago and has extended as far away as England and Puerto Rico. The program, created by Harvey Barnett, teaches small children how to survive in the water without supervision.
The program incorporates knowledge from healthcare, behavioral sciences, anatomy, and physiology, and says it has documented 788 cases of children using the ISR procedure to save themselves from drowning after accidentally falling into water.
The program was prompted by statistics showing that more than 900 children in the United States ages 14 and under died in drowning accidents in 2005, and four times that number required emergency medical care for "submersion injuries," according to the US Centers for Disease Control.
Last summer, aquatics instructor Deb Daniels used the ISR principles when she launched the drowning-prevention classes at the Weymouth club, which teaches children ages 6 months to 6 years how to stay afloat in the water. According to Daniels, the Weymouth club is the only place on the South Shore that teaches the ISR method.
The program provides children with one-on-one training for 10 minutes a day, five days a week, for four to six weeks. The children are first trained to float with a diaper on, and eventually fully clothed. The goal is to have them stay afloat for up to 10 minutes, said Daniels.
Students older than 12 months are taught how to swim and master a swim-float-swim sequence, Goldberg said.
Barbara Hunt and Kate McDonough, Weymouth club members, are training under Goldberg to become ISR instructors. The training is a six-week program that includes working with infants and toddlers. Instructors are examined for recertification each year.
In Florida, Goldberg says, she teaches 40 children a day. The Weymouth aquatics program has trained about 60 students in the past year.
One happy client is Bridget Thomsen of Dedham, whose daughter Charlize is enrolled in a follow-up course.
"I am so amazed by the fact that my 16-month-old daughter can swim," said Thomsen. "Only yesterday, she swam 15 feet, and now has mastered floating on her back."
Thomsen added: "This program was the best gift my husband and I could give our daughter . . . to give her the resource to be able to save her own life."
To find the location of certified ISR instructors, visit www.infantswim.com. 