Pool Safety Class For Tots

By Jeffrey Smith, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- A new pool safety class is hoping to save lives in Green Country, but the methods can make parents a little uncomfortable.  That's because it's a class for infants, some as young as six months.

It's called Infant Swim Resource and it is a national program.  There were never instructors around the Tulsa area, so one woman spent her summer in Arizona getting trained to offer the lessons here.

Jack Regan is 15 months old and he's in a swimming pool.  It's not about turning Jack into the next Michael Phelps.  It's about teaching him how to stay alive.

"The difference of a child saving themselves from drowning is literally turning their heads three inches. And, they're not taught to do that," said infant swim instructor Gina Myers.

Gina Myers is a new instructor with Infant Swim Resource, a program that teaches infants as young as six months basic pool safety like floating.

Myers says what happens in the pool isn't pretty, but it doesn't have to be.  When it comes to infants, it is about survival techniques.

"It doesn't seem right, but you know, if you were to come and see the process, it's not a swimming lesson. It's self-rescue skills," said infant swim instructor Gina Myers.

The technique's been around for decades, but before September there were no instructors in the Tulsa area.

The students are Myers's first.  And, for their parents, the lessons can be an emotional ride.

"You know, we're talking about saving my son's life possibly," said mother Amy Regan.

But ISR has its critics.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says lessons for six month olds have not been shown to decrease the risk of drowning and they can give parents a false sense of security.

"Tossing them in the pool? Not appropriate.   Forcing them to choke and gasp and panic?  I feel it's inappropriate," said Stephanie Scott with the Oklahoma Water Safety Committee.

"He's mostly just complaining.  He's not in distress.  He's mostly just unhappy about doing it," said Amy Regan of her son, Jack.

Regan says the safety is worth the splash.

The class lasts for five weeks and the last lesson is getting in the pool fully clothed.  Myers says it's important to go through realistic scenarios like that.

Myers says there are more than 700 cases of survival because of ISR techniques.