ISR of Middle Georgia

06/11/2026

POOL TOY RECALL | More than 250,000 Sloosh dive sticks are being recalled due to an impalement hazard. See if your product is impacted: http://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/nation-world/dive-stick-water-toys-recalled/507-55ad0672-c4b2-4d2d-81c4-e19f9815e472?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_13_WMAZ

06/10/2026

If your child spends any time around water, please read and share!💦

Our community here in Middle Georgia has experienced multiple drowning tragedies already this season, and my heart breaks for every family affected.❤️‍🩹

As parents, grandparents, caregivers, and neighbors, the most important thing we can do is learn and share water safety.

A few facts every family should know:

• Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1-4 in the United States.

• Drowning is often silent. It does not usually look like the yelling, splashing struggle we see in movies.

• Most drownings of children ages 1-4 occur in swimming pools and most drownings under age of 1 occur in bathtubs.

• Formal swim lessons have been shown to reduce drowning risk by 88% in young children.

• A four-sided isolation fence can also reduce a child’s risk of drowning by 83% compared to a pool that is only enclosed by a yard fence.

• Water wings, puddle jumpers, and similar flotation toys are not drowning prevention devices and can create a false sense of security. A properly fitted Coast Guard-approved life jacket the safest choice for open water but not to be used in a pool setting. Any floatation device that puts your child in a vertical swim position creates harmful muscle memory in what we refer to as the drowning position. A child comfortable but not skilled in the water is dangerous.

The National Drowning Prevention Alliance teaches that drowning prevention requires multiple layers of protection because no single layer is perfect.

The 5 Layers of Protection:
1.) Active adult supervision
2.) Barriers and alarms
3.) Water competency and formal/survival swim lessons
4.) Properly fitted USCG approved life jackets
5.) Emergency preparedness and CPR

It’s important to note that drownings are tragedies and can happen to loving, attentive, responsible families and caregivers. They happen in moments no one expects, during family gatherings, vacations, ordinary afternoons, and times when everyone has believed a child was safe.

I love our community here in Middle Georgia and feel it’s important to educate and share information that may help prevent another family from experiencing an unimaginable loss.

Feel free to reach out at any time if you need any water safety tips including recommendations for alarms, fence installation companies, life jackets, where you can become CPR certified, etc. I’m always happy to help!

Please take a moment to review your own layers of protection before your next day near or around water and please share to spread and educate those we love and care for.💙

https://www.cdc.gov/drowning/risk-factors/index.html

06/09/2026

Water Safety Reminder for Families 💙

At Live Like Jake, we are committed to helping families stay safe around water. Personal flotation devices have important limitations every caregiver should understand:

• They are only Coast Guard approved when used on a water vessel—not as a swimming aid.
• They are not designed to help children learn to swim.
• They can create a false sense of security for children who do not yet know how to swim.
• They often position a child vertically in the water, which is the position most associated with drowning risk.
• They are never a substitute for constant, active adult supervision.

Flotation devices are not babysitters—your child still needs your full attention anytime they are in or near water.

The best protection is skill. Teach your child to become their own flotation device through high-quality self-rescue swim lessons.

Live Like Jake encourages families to research and enroll early—water safety skills save lives.

06/08/2026

Summer session 1 is here!☀️ I can’t wait to watch all of my new and returning little swimmers grow in confidence and skill over the coming weeks💙

06/07/2026

Tomorrow is the start of our Summer Session 1!💦 I’m excited to get back in the water tomorrow and help another group of children gain confidence and life-saving ISR skills. Here’s to a safe and successful summer!☀️💙

06/06/2026

Nothing like ISR + friendship💙

It’s easy to look at this picture and see three kids floating in the water. I see hundreds of lessons, lots of hard work, and swim families who know the true value of water safety and made it a priority. The truth is, none of us think an accident will happen to our child. That’s why being prepared matters.

August enrollment is open. If you’d like information, please email [email protected] 💙

06/06/2026

Unpopular Opinion: Flotation Devices Aren't a Substitute for Swim Skills.

Recently, I have been getting emails and messages from parents telling us that they understand why they shouldn’t use a puddle jumper, and asking if they can use a life jacket instead.

Here's how we really feel about flotation devices:

When it comes to drowning prevention, there are no shortcuts. Unfortunately, the life jackets are going to teach your children the same thing that puddle jumpers do if you use them all of the time when in the pool.

They will still make your child think that they can float on their own, when they really can’t.

They will still teach your child to arch their head when swimming, which pulls their legs down and gets them into that vertical position ... the drowning position.

They will still teach your child to tread water, not swim.

They will still teach your child to bicycle their arms and legs in the water, which will only exhaust them, not get them moving to safety.

They will still teach your child that its ok to be independent in the water when they aren’t actually ready for that, and this right here is the thing that will convince them to go back to water without you and without the device.

Flotation devices like life vests are not and were never meant to be used to allow your child independence in the water. They are not and were never meant to help them learn to swim.
They were developed to be worn around open water, in case of a sudden and accidental fall into the water. That’s it. Not for pools, not for recreational swimming, not for allowing independence or helping parents with multiple kids manage all of them in the pool.

So if you want to protect your kids in open water, coast guard approved life vests are the way to go! But we have normalized using these devices all of the time and everywhere and it’s causing our kids to drown.

We have to change that. We have to normalize and standardize skilling kids in the water: Teaching them how to float on their backs on their own. Teaching them to propel through the water. Teaching them how to get out of the water.

Think skills, not flotation.

06/05/2026

06/03/2026