St. Petersburg Fire Rescue handing out free life jackets at Northwest Pool

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Officials at St. Pete Fire Rescue will hand out free life jackets to people at Northwest Pool Wednesday.

Living in Florida, we know how crucial water safety is. Having a life jacket is an added layer of protection for kids.

Experts said drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death in the US among children one to four years of age.

“A personal flotation device is useful around any body of water. It doesn't matter where it’s going to be, if it’s going to be at the pool, outside," said Garth Swingle, the Public Information Officer for St. Pete Fire Rescue.

In fact, the YMCA requires kids who don’t know how to swim to wear a life jacket. While the YMCA and other public pools may have access to life jackets, Swingle said it’s a good idea for kids to have their own life jackets so they can wear them at all pools.

"Everybody automatically assumes those are for boats and stuff, but you can also use them in pools," he said.

Life jackets help support the entire upper body, and leg straps will keep the jacket from being pulled over the child’s head.

“They are based on weight, and they do have the infant type to rest the head on, but the information is inside the jackets,” said Swingle.

St. Pete Fire Rescue will be at Northwest Pool from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 26, to hand out life vests. Swingle said these types of events tend to be very popular.

“We had one a couple of weeks ago. There were 40 people in line waiting for us to open just to get us to start," he said.

Remember, these are on a first-come, first-serve basis.

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