YourWestValley.com
PHOENIX, Ariz. — Southwest Ambulance announced that eight communities are participating in the company’s Pool Pack Swim Lesson Donation Program this summer.
Each program is independently managed and offer varying levels of sponsorships for swim lessons. Swim lesson registrations and individual requests for assistance are handled directly by each city or town’s Parks and Recreation Department.
Participating communities are:
West Valley - Glendale, Surprise and Avondale
East Valley - Mesa, Gilbert and Chandler
Pinal County - Casa Grande and Florence
Call a participating Parks and Recreation Department in your area to sign up for lessons and learn about eligibility.
“Responding to a child drowning is one of the most difficult calls for an ambulance crew because we know how preventable the incident could have been,” said John Karolzak, Southwest Zone vice president for Rural/Metro Corp. which oversees Southwest Ambulance. “Swim lessons dramatically reduce the risk of drowning, while the child is simply having a good time learning a life-saving skill. We estimate that nearly 30,000 children across Arizona have received free or reduced cost swim lessons since we began the Pool Pack Program in 2002, and we are excited to continue growing that number this year.
In 2002, prompted by a day when two Glendale children drowned in separate incidents, and alarmed by the increasing number of water-related incidents occurring Valleywide, Southwest Ambulance employees gathered together to develop and implement the Pool Pack Program.
Pool Pack works in partnership with communities to provide families with free or reduced cost swim lessons and compliments the prevention programs offered through municipal fire departments. Individual requests for assistance and swim lesson registrations are handled directly by community parks and recreation departments. Each program is independently managed, offering varying levels of sponsorships for swim lessons.
Since the program’s inception, Southwest Ambulance has donated more than $250,000 to local aquatics programs and Parks and Recreation departments, providing free or reduced cost swim lessons to Valley families. This year, eight communities in Maricopa and Pinal counties received funding from Southwest Ambulance’s Pool Pack Program.
Reprinted with permission from YourWestValley.com.