Non-swimmers at risk of drowning during heat waves

This summer’s extreme heat has driven many people to the water in order to keep cool. But when amateur swimmers take to the area’s pools and coasts, the number of drowning victims increases.

In the face of this seasonal problem, swimming lessons could mean the difference between life and death.

“Julie Gilchrist, a medical epidemiologist and pediatrician at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the heat wave should serve as a wake-up call for everyone to learn survival swimming skills – how to right one’s body, swim to the surface, control breathing, float or tread water, and traverse a distance in the water. She said research shows swimming lessons even for children as young as age 1 can help protect them from drowning,” reports NJ.com.

“Everybody needs to know how to swim,” she said.