Tragedy is not what anyone wants to remember about their child’s life. In Florida, we are starting off 2022 with 17 families waking up to memories due to a pediatric drowning according to the Florida Department of Children and Families.
May is National Water Safety Month, which is very important to our family. We are the Barnes Family, founders of Cayla’s Coats Inc., and parents to Cayla, Aidan and Brantley. Cayla’s Coats was founded after Cayla experienced an accidental drowning at the age of 20 months. Our lives have been forever changed due to the tragedy we experienced. The mission of Cayla’s Coats is to provide water safety education, materials and coats to children and families in Citrus County.
After returning from the National Water Safety Conference, presented by the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, we have come back rejuvenated and ready to share the importance of water safety. One of the things that stood out, which was shared by Dave Benjamin, founder of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, is “water safety is not common sense. Water safety is a specialized skill.” As a community it is up to us to make sure that we are sharing our specialized skills and keeping our members safe.
Our beautiful waterways, one of the benefits of Citrus County, can also be the drawbacks. It is important that we make sure those benefits stay as safe as possible. We are surrounded by water in many different forms, and water safety is for everyone regardless of age. The biggest question is “what can I do?”
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The best way to be safer around water is to share our message. Whenever there is an open body of water, there should be a fence with a self-locking gate and door alarms, active adult supervision by an adult that can swim, learning CPR, survival swim lessons and life jackets when boating and swimming in open water.
As an organization, Cayla’s Coats has been lucky enough to be supported by many wonderful people and organizations in Citrus County. We have partnered with many in order for us to install three life jacket loaner stations throughout Citrus County, with plans to add two more this year. These locations offer life jackets in multiple different sizes for community members to use and return at beaches and boat ramps.
If you are interested in learning more about our organization, visit at www.caylascoats.org, on Facebook and Instagram or send us an email at caylas.coats@hotmail.com. We are always looking for community partners and volunteers to assist us in furthering our mission.
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