Pool Safety A Priority In Bradford West Gwillimbury
On Guard program in play
The Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury wants to keep everyone safe in the backyard pool this summer. It’s adopted the Lifesaving Society’s On Guard program, designed to ensure a responsible parent or caregiver is visibly identified as being “on duty” when children are in or near the water. A plastic card is worn on a lanyard around the neck by the person on supervision duty at the pool. Those who wear the card are responsible for committing 100 per cent of their attention to children and non-swimmers around the pool, and for finding another adult to relieve them if they need to turn their attention away for any reason. “The sad reality is that each year there are tragic stories of children who drown because an adult turned their eyes away from the pool for a moment to answer the phone, talk to someone, flip the burgers on the barbeque, get a towel or any number of things,” says Teresa Taylor, Aquatic Supervisor. “Drowning is fast, silent and preventable.”There are two ways to get the card — through the BWG Leisure Centre website or when you apply for a pool enclosure permit through the town’s building division.
