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"  Although summer is not officially here yet, the sun is out and pools are open. Pools surely are fun in the sun, but nationally, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14 years. Children are attracted to water and drowning can occur, silently, with out notice, when least expected - &amp;quot;the silent death&amp;quot;. How can you keep your kids safe? Having a pool or belonging to a neighborhood swim club can create great social and outdoor activities for children, and safety in and around the pool is extremely important. Pool safety is the combination of several lines of defense including adult supervision, knowledge of CPR, swimming instruction for your child, gate and door alarms, and a self closing, self latching gate that opens away from the pool and door alarms.  Last summer the Good Housekeeping Research Institute tested a handful on pool alarms which let off an audible alarm when a disturbance in the pool is detected. The big surprise was three failed our test. Check out our test results here. We also performed a test on gate alarms which alert the homeowner when someone one has simply entered the pool area. What about the public pool you belong to? The past December, the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act took effect, imposing mandatory federal requirements for suction-entrapment avoidance and creating a voluntary grant program that encourages states to pass legislation for pool and spa safety. To be eligible for this funding, states must write laws that call for pool barriers (covers, self-closing/self-latching gates, door alarms, and pool alarms) and suction-entrapment avoidance. States must also set aside money to educate people about the standards covered in the act. Not all states have legislation on pool alarms: California, Connecticut, and New York were the first to dive in. (Connecticut passed a law in 2000, becoming the first state to require each new residential pool to have a pool alarm.) So let your voice be heard. Encourage your local government to enact laws to make pools and spas safer for your kids. Find contact information for your local representative, then download this letter to print out and send. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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