Pool Parties and Drinking Don’t Mix

Summer is a time for relaxing, visiting exotic and foreign lands, and spending hours close to or in a body of water. Unfortunately, many people think that relaxing and having a good time are synonymous with drinking alcohol. While it is definitely possible to enjoy one’s self without ever having a sip of anything likely to lead to inebriation, people often enjoy combining their favorite vice with a recreational activity.

Every single day of the year, ten Americans die from an accidental drowning. If this statistic were not bad enough, only two of those daily deaths are people aged 14 or younger. That means that a large number of adults die each day due to unintentional drowning. These numbers do not include boating accidents, so it is imperative that people have all of their faculties about them when around swimming pools.

Pool accidents won’t necessarily kill you, either. Over half of the people treated in emergency rooms for drowning incidents are admitted for further care. They most often suffer from brain damage and some never recover, remaining in a vegetative state for the rest of their natural lives. Since a quarter of hospital-treated drowning accidents involve alcohol use, the pool incidents are largely avoidable. When in doubt, simply remember that pool parties and drinking don’t mix.

The fact is that alcohol consumption negatively impacts a person’s self-control. Drinking makes it easier to have falling accidents and slippery, wet surfaces increase the likelihood of falling even more. Drinking also makes it more difficult to exercise good judgment. Many risky behaviors, like binge drinking may seem like a good idea after a few beers. The negative effects of drinking alcohol are exacerbated by sun and heat exposure. The hotter it is by the pool, the more easily alcohol can inebriate you and disturb your equilibrium.

America’s Center for Disease Control (CDC) will tell you: pool parties and drinking don’t mix. In fact, alcohol consumption around bodies of water is so dangerous, the CDC’s website advises people to refrain from drinking even while simply supervising children. The negative effects of alcohol can result in you drowning, but alcohol consumption while babysitting or the like can also make it more difficult to give a child proper care should a pool accident happen. The best advice is simply to never drink alcohol when doing anything recreational and fun with water.