‘PARTNERING WITH THE NDPA’

Lessons from my time working as a pool service pro By Alissa Magrum,

I have worked in water safety and drowning prevention for the last 15 years, and I learned a lot about backyard pool safety during the year I spent cleaning and servicing backyard pools in Central Texas.

While I was serving as the executive director for the Austin, Texas-based water safety and drowning prevention organization, Colin’s Hope, a good friend and professional colleague — Patti Sue Wilson of Radiant Pools— asked if I could help her with her pool cleaning route for a few months. I saw this as an opportunity to not only help Patti Sue but also to get an insider's view into people’s backyard pool behaviors. I am going to share three specific things I learned during this experience.

Thing #1: Always Close (and Keep Closed) The Fence and the Gate

One of the first things I learned during my time as a pool service tech was to always make sure the fence and the gate were closed. And I mean always. This includes no propping the gate open while hauling the pool cleaning tools from the truck to the backyard though it is tempting to do so.

Simply making sure the fence and the gates are ALWAYS closed while you are on site can be the thing that prevents a tragedy and sets a good example for pool owners.

Thing #2: Keep Toys Away from and out of the Pool I love whales and dolphins, but I was constantly arriving at pools on our weekly route to find a large inflatable marine animal floating in the pool or resting on the pool deck. Sometimes, it was a beach ball or a baby stroller parked nearby. All of this is dangerous because children may be drawn to them and therefore drawn to the water.

It is simple to remove toys from the pool and deck and place them far away, ideally outside of the pool area or even better, outside the pool fence (hopefully, there is a 4-sided fence). If you are able to have a conversation with the homeowner to tell them why you are removing the toys each time, this is fantastic.

Lesson #3 Simple Conversations Save Lives

As an extrovert, I enjoy engaging with most people. While doing my pool cleaning thing, I liked to talk to homeowners if they were around. In these moments I was able to share some basic pool and water safety tips. If they had kids, I asked if they have had swimming lessons. If I saw toys in the pool or pool area, I’d encourage them to keep them out. If the gate was propped open, I’d talk about that. I’d ask if they use a Water Watcher when they use the pool. I took any opportunity to help them keep their family and friends safer around their pool.

They were often happy to engage in conversation with me and were open to my suggestions. I would just NDPA

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let them know that there are simple things they can do to prevent an accident from happening and point them to water safety resources.

I loved my time helping Patti Sue with her Radiant Pools route. I continue to remember the lessons I learned while working in pool service in my current role with the National Drowning Prevention Alliance.

The NDPA has many resources including a free Aquatic and Pool Professional Toolkit containing incredible resources for you to share with your fellow pool service professionals and clients. Our friends at the Independent Pool and Spa Service Association have sponsored this toolkit, making it accessible.

There are many water safety resources available in this toolkit, organized by age group and activity. There are also checklists for things like finding the right swimming program and also a pool safety checklist that reviews barriers and alarms, safety equipment, and pool maintenance. Providing this information to your clients helps you promote a safer space in and around their pool.

Here are a few tips for using the toolkit.

1. Print or post this information on your website, social media, and if you have a physical storefront.

2. Use and share the pre-made social posts to help keep your clients and community safer.

3. Distribute printable resources to your clients to help them learn about water safety, helping foster a culture of safety that goes beyond the services you provide.

This will show your clients that you care deeply about the work you do and about keeping their family safer.

The NDPA is a go-to place for water safety with the mission to elevate awareness to educate, advocate, innovate, and equip to prevent drownings. You can use these free NDPA resources as we get closer to the busy pool season.

If you have any questions, any ideas of what additional resources you would like to see and use or if you want to support the NDPA as a sponsor or partner, please contact us anytime or reach out to me directly at alissa@ndpa.org.

Thank you for all that you do and we look forward to working with you.

Alissa Magrum is currently serving as the Interim Executive Director of the NDPA. She is also a former pool service pro.

http://alissa@ndpa.org