EGG HARBOR TWP.-- Summer's here and you know what that means, plenty of time to take a dip in the pool. But for babies and young children who don't know how to swim, the pool can be dangerous and even deadly. As a way to prevent accidental drowning, a program is now being offered locally that teaches babies the skills necessary to save their own life. Jennifer Husko shows us what it's all about.

7 and a half-month-old, Kaylynn doesn't seem too happy to be in the water, but what she's learning keeps her parents at ease. "We take a lot of vacations around water, so that's really what inspired us to start her in swim… it will definitely make my husband and I feel al lot more comfortable when we're around water, whether the ocean or a pool," said Brandy Davila, mother of Kaylynn.

Kaylynn's only in week three of her self-rescue swimming lessons, and she's already learning how to float. "The object of this is drowning prevention, the reason for it is that drowning is the number one cause of death in the United States for children in this age group," said Dr. Harvey Barnett, founder and director of Infant Swimming Resource.

Customized for each child, the infant swimming resource teaches infants six to 12 months how to hold their breath under water, roll onto their backs and float without any help. In addition to those skills, children one to six years old learn to swim with their head down and eyes open and use the swim, float, swim sequence. "Babies at this age don't have language yet so they're working in the world in a physical way and this is presented and taught in a physical way."

The lessons are teaching aquatic survival and create an opportunity that if a baby gets into trouble, they can get themselves out. Barbara Gorman, swim instructor and mother of 2 and a half year old, Mac says, “It's giving him first and foremost, skills to use in an emergency." And says the lessons meant the difference between life and death. "It gets me all choked up right now."

Mac began lessons at 8 months old and Barbara tells us a few months after he perfected his skill, he was swimming, supervised in a baby pool puling himself along the wall. She turned her head for a split second and what she saw when she turned back around, took her breath away. "I turned back he wasn't at the wall, he was floating face up in the center of the pool…it happened like that, nobody heard it, nobody saw it…I was happy he was floating but I felt really awful because as much as I want him to have these skills, I don't want him in that kind of situation."

The infant swimming resource has yet to have a former student drown and parents say it's worth every penny. "It's funny, a lot of other parents say she doesn't even know how to walk yet but she knows how to swim and it's true, she can save herself," said Davila.

AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center is the first healthcare organization in the nation to offer the Infant Swimming Resource's Self-Rescue Swimming Lessons that begin on July 20th.

For more information or to sign your child up, click on the “links” section of our website.