Non-profits hope water safety classes can help prevent drownings

PHOENIX (FOX 10) -- Just a week after a two-year-old girl drowned in a swimming pool in Lake Havasu City, three non-profits came together to hold a four-day long water safety camp in Phoenix.

With the Valley experiencing hotter weather, organizers hope to prevent more deaths. They say they don't want to deter children from having fun in the water, especially to cool down during our hot summers. The classes are all about how to do that safely, and the kids are joining 15,000 others across the country who have participated in the award-winning Zac Camp.

"Living in Arizona, of course, they're looking for any excuse to get into water," said Jason Reynolds with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Phoenix.

For the coming four days, kids in the camp are learning skills that will be useful for the rest of their lives.

"You have to learn how to swim so you can't drown in the water. That's a very important thing," said one young girl.

Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death for young children ages one to four, and the 2nd leading cause for children under 14, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"One of the key things is when we ask the kids if they know how to swim, they raise their hand, and they're like, a little bit," said Reynolds.

In order to prevent more drowning deaths, the Zac Foundation and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Phoenix joined forces to hold the four-day long water safety camp.

"It's also talking about what bodies of water you shouldn't be playing in," said Reynolds. "Whether it's lakes or rivers, staying away from the canals, those sorts of things."

The camp is specifically for children, but there are other water safety classes out there that can come in handy for even adults who already know how to swim.