When I was a little kid I can remember my mom warning me not to swim too close to the drains in pools and not to put my head under the water in hot tubs. She was concerned that my ponytail would get caught and I would drown.

I always thought that was a little morbid. I was just a kid and wanted to have fun.

But my mom had reason to be concerned. The Consumer Product Safety Commission launched the Pool Safely campaign earlier this week in response to the number of injuries and deaths from submersions and entrapments in pools and spas.

The commission released some scary statistics:

From 2005-2007, for children younger than 15, there was an average of 385 drownings in pools and spas each year.

74 percent of those fatalities happened at a home and not in a public pool.

The new campaign will help educate people about the simple steps they can take to make sure their kids stay safe around the water.

Tips include:

• Make sure drain covers meet compliance standards
• Install fences with self-latching gates around pools to keep children from falling in
• Don’t let kids swim unsupervised.
• Learn CPR to be prepared

What tips do you have for keeping you and your kids safe in the pool?

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