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BROWARD COUNTY COMMISSION
NEWS RELEASE
Parks and Recreation Division ▪ 950 N.W. 38th St., Oakland Park, FL 33309
Phone: 954-357-8100 ▪ Fax: 954-561-5359 ▪ www.broward.org/parks
Date: November 19, 2008 Phone: 954-357-8115
From: Michael Mills E-mail: mmills@broward.org
For Immediate Release
SWIM Central Program Teaches Children Well
- Year-end numbers are in -
Fact: In less than a decade, SWIM Central has provided water-safety education for more than 180,000 children in Broward County. More important fact: Not one of these children has become a drowning or near-drowning victim.
These are just a couple of the impressive statistics included in the SWIM Central Final Report FY08. When SWIM Central was founded in June 1999 by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners, it was in response to statistics of another sort. At the time, the number of fatal drowning accidents among children ages 4 through 7 had grown to an average of 5 per year. Near-drownings were also alarmingly common – for every child who drowns, another four are hospitalized for near-drowning, with three out of four victims suffering brain damage.
It was one of the goals of SWIM Central – the only program of its kind in the country – to bring these numbers down. So far, the results have been encouraging. From 2005 to 2008, for example, the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office reported a total of 7 drowning deaths of children 4 through 7, or an average of less than two per year.
If you’re hearing about SWIM Central for the first time, here is how it works. SWIM Central’s focus is to teach water-safety instruction to every pre-K and kindergarten student in the Broward County school system. It provides 10 classes of 30 minutes each over a two-week period to teach basic and valuable water-safety and swimming skills – at no cost to the parent. The curriculum-based program is taught by certified water-safety instructors who have been selected and carefully trained through SWIM Central. The program is fully funded by a partnership with Broward County, the Children’s Services Council, and the School Board of Broward County. In June, the Ronald McDonald House Charities funded 1,800 additional children to go through the program.
The program’s success is in the numbers. During fiscal year 2007-08, 130 elementary schools participated in the program, which provided 29,307 children with water-safety education classes and resulted in 240,751 swim lessons that were offered in 48 aquatics facilities in Broward County. Parents also reaped the benefits as 640 parents received the Target Zero Drowning Prevention course and 33,000 SWIM Central questionnaires were received from parents and drowning prevention material was mailed in return. And to increase the number of qualified lifeguards available to keep our children safe, scholarships were awarded for 88 water-safety instructors and 120 lifeguards.
For more information about SWIM Central, including water-safety tips and water-safety education locations, call the hotline at 954-357-SWIM (7946) or visit the Website at www.broward.org/parks.
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Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations in order to participate in County programs, services, and activities must contact the Special Populations Section at 954-357-8170 or TTY 954-537-2844 at least 10 business days prior to the scheduled meeting or event to request an accommodation.
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