Tulsa Kids Learn Winter Water Safety

Experts say almost 90 percent of kids who drown are fully clothed.  They say those clothes can either make being in the water more dangerous or, if used the right way, can actually help prevent drowning.

Instructors at Miller Swim School are teaching kids to use their clothes as tools to get out of freezing water.

They say one of the first things a child does when they fall into the water is panic because of the weight of their clothes.

Instructors say 30 minutes in the pool learning can prevent tragedies from happening.

Three-year-old Carson Hunt almost drowned when he fell into a family swimming pool over the summer, his mother says.

Jessica Hunt says that lessons at Miller Swim School are giving Carson confidence in the water.

“It gives me goosebumps,” she said.  “I couldn’t have asked this to go any better than it has.”

This week, instructors are teaching Carson and hundreds of other kids a whole new set of lessons on winter water safety.

“You’re clothed in the winter, you’re not going to be in your swim suit walking around the lake,” said Gina Miller Kinnison.

The classes are taught while the kids are wearing their winter clothes.

“We want them to not even think twice about it, not even think that they have anything on that is making them heavy,” said Kinnison.  “It has got to be second nature for them to just fall in, pop right up, and get on their back.”

The instructors teach babies how to get their heads above water and float on their backs.  The older kids also learn how to use their pants as a life jacket and how to save a friend who has fallen in the water, without falling in themselves.

Instructors say, no matter the season, it’s important to educate families on being comfortable and prepared in the water.

“It’s our heart and our passion,” Kinnison said.  “If we can save one child, one person, one family.”