Intermountain Health safety experts say enjoy the water this summer by borrowing a life jacket, keeping an eye on kids, and using sunscreen

Salt Lake City, UT (PRUnderground) July 18th, 2026

The weather is warm and the water is beckoning, and Intermountain Health safety experts say it’s crucial to keep kids safe around water, whether it’s at the pool, lake, or even the bathtub to prevent accidental drowning.

Drowning is the second leading cause of preventable injury death for children under age 14, Utah Department of Health & Human Services show. Additionally:

• 70% of drowning deaths occur between May and August.
• 34% of drownings take place in lakes, rivers, canals, and other bodies of water.
• 28% happen in pools.
• 20% occur in bathtubs.

“In most cases, child drownings occur when adults are present and were not paying attention at that moment when the tragedy happens,” said Ashley Castaneda, community health coordinator at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital. “The best prevention is attention. Never leave children alone in water, even for a second. Also remember to have a life jacket, especially in Utah lakes and other open bodies of water.”

Intermountain Children’s Health offers the following water safety tips:

• Wear a coast-guard approved life jacket at lakes and reservoirs, even if you can swim. Cold lake water can bring on dangerous cramps, shock, hypothermia, and difficulty breathing. Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital donated over 1,000 Coast Guard-approved life jackets to Life Jacket Loaner Stations in the Utah state parks. They’re available on a first-come, first-served basis at many lakes, recreation centers, and reservoirs.
• Appoint a “water watcher.” Ensure someone is always supervising children without distraction. Take 15-minute shifts and use a visual cue like a lanyard or hat to identify the watcher.
• Never leave a child unattended in a bathtub, even for a second.
• Drain kiddie pools and bucket sand turn them upside down when not in use.
• Teach the whole family to swim.
• Use Coast Guard-approved life jackets instead of water wings.
• Enclose pools and hot tubs with self-closing and locking gates.
• Teach children to stay away from water while hiking or camping.
• Check nearby water first if a child is missing.
• Call 911 if a child falls into rushing water; do not jump in after them.
• Learn CPR.

For more safety tips, go to Intermountainhealth.org/childsafety.

About Intermountain Health

Headquartered in Utah with locations in six states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 34 hospitals, approximately 400 clinics, medical groups with some 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a nonprofit health plan called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For up-to-date information and announcements, please see the Intermountain Health newsroom at https://news.intermountainhealth.org/. For more information, see intermountainhealth.org/ or call 801-442-2000.

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Original Press Release.