Water Safety (Recreational)

On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here

Learn More

• Related Issues

See, Play and Learn

• Health Check Tools

Research

• Statistics and Research
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Patient Handouts

Summary

Playing in the water - whether swimming, boating or diving - can be fun. It can also be dangerous, especially for children. Being safe can help prevent injuries and drowning. To stay safe in the water

• Avoid alcohol when swimming or boating
• Wear a life jacket whenever you're in a boat
• Don't swim alone, or in bad weather
• Learn CPR
• Learn to swim and teach your children to swim
• Supervise your children when they are in the water
• Prevent sunburns - use plenty of sunscreen

Start Here

• Healthy Swimming/Recreational Water (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Outdoor Water Safety (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Water Safety (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• "Swimmer's Ear" (Otitis Externa) Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Cercarial Dermatitis (Swimmer's Itch) FAQs (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• COVID-19: Visiting Beaches and Pools (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
• Diarrhea and Swimming (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Hot Tub Rash (Pseudomonas Dermatitis/Folliculitis) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Leptospirosis Risk in Outdoor Activities (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Risky Drinking Can Put a Chill on Your Summer Fun (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)
• Scuba Diving Safety (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• Swimming Pools and Molluscum Contagiosum (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Health Check Tools

• Water Safety (American Red Cross)

Statistics and Research

• CDC Study Finds Fecal Contamination in Pools (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Untreated sewage contamination of beach sand from a leaking underground sewage...
• Article: Mass Air Medical Repatriation of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients.
• Article: A mini ROV-based method for recovering marine instruments at depth.
• Water Safety (Recreational) -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• American College of Emergency Physicians
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• "Hot Tub Rash" and "Swimmer's Ear" (Pseudomonas) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - PDF Also in Spanish