0
Not in place
We do not do this, or we are not sure.
1
Partly
Sometimes, or only some children and some places.
2
Fully
Every child, every time, everywhere we swim.
Score honestly — the point of this sheet is to find the gap before it finds your child. Score for the water your family actually uses this year: your own pool, a relative's pool, the lake house, the hotel, the beach, the bathtub.
Layer 1 — Barriers and Access Control
- Four-sided isolation fencing. Any pool or hot tub we use is fenced on all four sides, at least 4 feet tall, separating the water from the house — not just from the yard.
- Self-closing, self-latching gates. Every gate swings shut and latches on its own from any position, with the latch mounted high and out of a child's reach. We tested it this season.
- Door and window alarms. Every house door and window a child could use to reach water alarms when opened, and the alarms have working batteries.
- Indoor water is secured. Bathroom doors stay closed, toilet lids are latched for toddlers, and buckets, coolers, and pet bowls are emptied the moment we finish with them.
- Barriers travel with us. At a relative's house, a rental, or a hotel, we check the barriers on arrival and set our own rules for the water we did not childproof.
Layer 1 subtotal
/ 10
Layer 2 — Supervision
- One named watcher, always. Whenever children are in or near water, one specific adult is assigned to watch — by name, out loud — instead of everyone assuming someone else has it.
- The watcher does nothing else. No phone, no grilling, no alcohol, no side conversations. Shifts are short (about 15 minutes) and handed off explicitly.
- Touch supervision for the youngest. Children under 5 and every non-swimmer stay within an adult's arm's reach in the water — not watched from a deck chair.
- Head counts on a rhythm. We count and name every child every 30 seconds, and we sweep the water first — not the house — the second a child is unaccounted for.
- Gatherings have a written plan. At parties and family swims, the watcher rotation is set before anyone gets wet, because more adults present means less individual responsibility felt.
Layer 2 subtotal
/ 10
Layer 3 — Swim Skills and Water Competency
- Every child is in or has completed lessons. Each child in the household has had formal swim instruction appropriate to their age — not just pool time with family.
- Each child can float and roll to breathe. Every child can roll onto their back, float unassisted, and breathe — the single skill that buys time in an unexpected fall-in.
- Full water competency, not just swimming. Each child can enter water over their head, return to the surface, tread or float for one minute, turn around, orient to safety, swim 25 yards, and exit without a ladder.
- Skills are maintained year-round. Lessons or practice continue through fall and winter, because swim skills fade over a long off-season the way any motor skill does.
- Adults can swim too. Every adult who supervises our children around water can swim well enough to be useful in an emergency — or knows to reach and throw rather than go in.
Layer 3 subtotal
/ 10
Layer 4 — Life Jackets and Equipment
- U.S. Coast Guard–approved jackets that fit. Every child has a properly sized, correctly fastened USCG-approved life jacket — checked against current weight, not last year's.
- Jackets are worn in open water and on boats. Weak swimmers and non-swimmers wear them at lakes, rivers, and beaches, and everyone wears one on any boat.
- Floaties are treated as toys. Water wings, puddle jumpers, and inflatables are never counted as safety devices, and no child is left less supervised because they are wearing one.
- Rescue equipment is at the water. A reaching pole and a throwable flotation device stay poolside, and everyone knows to reach or throw before going in.
- Drains and suction are safe. Any pool or spa we use has compliant anti-entrapment drain covers, and children know to stay away from drains and suction outlets.
Layer 4 subtotal
/ 10
Layer 5 — Emergency Readiness
- Current CPR training. At least one adult in the household holds current CPR certification including infant and child CPR, renewed within the last two years.
- Everyone can recognize silent drowning. Our caregivers know drowning is quiet — head low, mouth at water level, vertical body, no splashing — and that a child who cannot answer "Are you okay?" needs help now.
- A phone stays at the water. A charged phone is poolside for 911 only, and the street address is posted where a panicking adult can read it aloud to a dispatcher.
- Roles are assigned in advance. Everyone knows who calls 911, who starts CPR, who meets the ambulance, and who gathers the other children.
- We have actually practiced it. We have walked through the plan out loud at least once — because a plan nobody has rehearsed is a plan nobody will execute.
Layer 5 subtotal
/ 10
Add Up Your Score
Layer 1 — Barriers____ / 10
Layer 2 — Supervision____ / 10
Layer 3 — Swim Skills____ / 10
Layer 4 — Life Jackets____ / 10
Layer 5 — Emergency____ / 10
TOTAL____ / 50
42–50Strong. Your layers are working together. Keep them current — re-score every spring, re-check life jacket sizing as children grow, and renew CPR on schedule.
30–41Good, with gaps. One or two layers are carrying the others. Find your lowest layer and close it this month — that single layer is where a failure would reach your child.
18–29Significant risk. Too much depends on adults never being distracted. Prioritize swim lessons and barriers now; both work even when attention lapses.
0–17Act this week. Start with the two layers that protect without supervision: enroll every child in lessons, and secure a real barrier between your home and the water.
Read your lowest layer, not just your total. A family scoring 40 with a zero in Emergency Readiness is more exposed than a family scoring 34 evenly, because layers are designed to cover each other's failures — a missing layer has nothing behind it.
My Lowest Layer Is: ____________________ — Three Things I Will Fix
Put a date on each one. Re-score this sheet in 90 days.