Taking A Shower Before Entering A Pool Can Save Lives
14 Sep Taking A Shower Before Entering A Pool Can Save Lives
Yuck! Most Kids Don’t Shower Before Using Public Pools
From Live Science
RWI, or Recreational Water Illnesses, are one of the scariest and least understood of dangers that are lurking around inside swimming pools. While most people find it a normal and appropriate act to take a shower after swimming, says this post from Live Science, a very small percentage of parents consider showering prior to swimming an appropriate act. These parents consider it the responsibility of the swimming pool staff to ensure the safety of the pool. This is a dangerous and misguided misconception, and must be rectified to prevent the spread of water-borne illnesses.
Here is an excerpt from the post:
Most people shower after a day at the pool, but do you know anyone who’s adamant about showering before going in the water? Many parents don’t understand the risk of water infections from public pools and water parks, and few realize a pre-swim shower can largely prevent these illnesses, new research shows.
Recreational water illnesses (RWI), which are spread by swallowing, breathing in or contacting contaminated water in some way, affect more than 10,000 Americans each year. Public pools and water parks play a major role in spreading RWIs, but few parents have their kids take the necessary preventive steps, according to the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health.
The poll asked 865 parents, with children ages 5 to 12, questions regarding their opinions about water park risks and basic water park rules. When asked about whose responsibility it is to prevent infections, 28 percent of parents indicated it’s the sole responsibility of the water park’s staff. Furthermore, most parents chose to ignore parks’ requests for hygienic pre-swim showers. [7 Devastating Infectious Diseases]
Showering before a swim isn’t just about curbing germs
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