Planning summer activities? Put teaching your child water survival skills on your list.
Every year, no matter where we live, we hear of infants and young children drowning in pools or other bodies of water. Even the very young can be trained to react so that this does not happen to them.
After witnessing the tragic aftermath of the drowning death of a neighbor’s child, Dr. Harvey Barnett has dedicated his life to teaching water survival skills. He was only an 18-year-old lifeguard at the time, but he vowed to do everything possible to ensure not another child drowned. His program, called Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) successfully teaches infants and young children how to survive if accidentally submerged in a body of water.
Dr. Barnett began his crusade by teaching the young children in his neighborhood to swim.
He carefully observed how they responded to instructions, how quickly they learned certain techniques, and what types of communication were most effective. Using miles of Super 8 film, Dr. Barnett began developing a program that could be used even on infants that were not yet verbal. This was the beginning of the ISR which has evolved into a proven system.
ISR teaches children from 6 months to 6 years old to survive in water and to literally save themselves.
Combining his Ph.D. in behavioral psychology with 41 years of experience teaching young children how to survive in water, Dr. Barnett developed a standardized drowning prevention program that has earned a 100% safety record. ISR is well-grounded in health care, psychology/behavioral sciences and anatomy, and physiology. ISR has taught water self-rescue skills to more than 177,224 babies and their parents. Dr. Barnett and his instructors also educate medical experts nationwide on these techniques. ISR has 788 documented cases in which children using ISR techniques have saved themselves from drowning.
ISR was founded in 1966, and is now the global leader in water survival skills for infants and young children. ISR has a team of several hundred instructors in many locations. It promises the safest and most effective survival swimming lessons available.
The child is the most important part of a drowning prevention strategy.
ISR believes pool fences, supervision, and pool alarms are import parts of a necessary multi-layered approach to drowning prevention. However, traditional lines of defense break down, and the over 4,000 drowning deaths per year bear a grim testament to the fact that traditional approaches are missing a key component in prevention — the child. ISR is convinced that the child is the most important part of a drowning prevention strategy. Children are curious, capable, and have an uncanny ability to overcome obstacles like pool fences. ISR training channels those abilities to teach children skills that have the potential to save their lives if they find themselves in the water alone.
See IRS training in action.
Watch a compelling video of Dr. Barnett demonstrating the IRS training or find an IRS instructor near you.
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About the Author – Patty Donovan
In 2004 while working as a hospice RN, I was seriously injured. By 2007, I was mostly in a wheelchair and rudely told by the neurosurgeon to: “Just use the wheelchair, shut up, take the morphine and learn to deal with it”. I was on over 20 prescriptions including multiple psychotropic medications. When I left the neurosurgeon’s office that day I knew something had to change. Prayer led me to chiropractic which changed my life. Within a few months, I lost 50 lbs, put my cane and wheelchair in a closet and parked my scooter in the house. I have gotten off almost all medication. After 30 years in the Health Care Industry, I have gladly walked away from allopathic medicine. The rapid, positive results made it easy to undo 30 years of brainwashing. I continue to struggle with lung disease and CFIDS but I am able to remain functional through alternative health and nutrition. My goal in life now is to share my story with others and teach the truth about pharmaceuticals, nutrition and health care.
