Home Security for the Swimming Pool Saving Lives
With the scary fact that it takes as little as 2 inches of water and 2 seconds for a child to drown, parents are extra cautious about letting children bathe or play in water alone. A pool in the yard can be just as deadly as an unlocked gun cabinet; however, many families leave the pool unguarded with no more than a verbal warning to stay away. A blend of accidents, childhood curiosity, and just plain being too young to understand water safety, cause swimming pools to be one of the biggest threats to serious injury and death for families with young children. For this very reason more and more families are making the smart choice of installing a home alarm system around the pool.
When deciding if your pool needs a pool alarm consider some factors like how accessible is your pool? An in-ground pool may be more of a threat than an above-ground pool with a removable ladder. If you have kids, the decision to use a pool alarm should be a no-brainer, but even if you live in a neighborhood where there are kids, or have lots of family members with kids over to visit, it is a good idea to have. Even if a neighbor's carelessness leads one of their children to wander into your yard and use your pool unsupervised, the guilt and potential legal issues involved are hardly worth it to not be protected with a pool alarm. Even when you are home, it takes less than 5 minutes unsupervised for a child to drown. That's far too fast to leave it to chance, short of hiring a 24/7 lifeguard. The kids at the highest risk of drowning in a residential swimming pool are five years old and younger, meaning that the children are highly active and mobile, but without a very well developed concept of danger.
Some pool alarm options include gate alarms, door alarms, window alarms, perimeter alarms, voice alarms, floating/wave sensors, fence or wall mounted passive infra-red motion devices, and pool mounted passive infra-red motion detectors. Gate alarms simply sound a warning anytime the gate to the pool is opened. This is the most useful if the gate is the only source of access to the pool. Window and door alarms are useful when the entry to the pool is from the house. That way, there will be warning when anyone exits the house towards the pool area. Perimeter alarms use laser or infra-red light around the entire perimeter of the pool, and an alarm sounds when the beam is broken. Voice alarms are talking wireless home security systems that give a pre-recorded verbal warning as children move about danger areas like the pool. In-pool alarms, like floating or wave sensors, are mounted on the edge of the pool and sense water displacement and sound an alarm via remote receiver. Fence, wall, and pool mounted passive infra-red motion detectors are very efficient in that they detect both heat and motion. There is generally a short delay after activation to allow adults time to shut off the alarm feature, but don't allow kids enough time to get in the water unsupervised.
When deciding if your pool needs a pool alarm consider some factors like how accessible is your pool? An in-ground pool may be more of a threat than an above-ground pool with a removable ladder. If you have kids, the decision to use a pool alarm should be a no-brainer, but even if you live in a neighborhood where there are kids, or have lots of family members with kids over to visit, it is a good idea to have. Even if a neighbor's carelessness leads one of their children to wander into your yard and use your pool unsupervised, the guilt and potential legal issues involved are hardly worth it to not be protected with a pool alarm. Even when you are home, it takes less than 5 minutes unsupervised for a child to drown. That's far too fast to leave it to chance, short of hiring a 24/7 lifeguard. The kids at the highest risk of drowning in a residential swimming pool are five years old and younger, meaning that the children are highly active and mobile, but without a very well developed concept of danger.
Some pool alarm options include gate alarms, door alarms, window alarms, perimeter alarms, voice alarms, floating/wave sensors, fence or wall mounted passive infra-red motion devices, and pool mounted passive infra-red motion detectors. Gate alarms simply sound a warning anytime the gate to the pool is opened. This is the most useful if the gate is the only source of access to the pool. Window and door alarms are useful when the entry to the pool is from the house. That way, there will be warning when anyone exits the house towards the pool area. Perimeter alarms use laser or infra-red light around the entire perimeter of the pool, and an alarm sounds when the beam is broken. Voice alarms are talking wireless home security systems that give a pre-recorded verbal warning as children move about danger areas like the pool. In-pool alarms, like floating or wave sensors, are mounted on the edge of the pool and sense water displacement and sound an alarm via remote receiver. Fence, wall, and pool mounted passive infra-red motion detectors are very efficient in that they detect both heat and motion. There is generally a short delay after activation to allow adults time to shut off the alarm feature, but don't allow kids enough time to get in the water unsupervised.
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