PHOENIX -
Two weekend drownings happened during backyard cookouts. As we've learned, some people are going as far as hiring lifeguards to man their pool parties.
There are businesses that you can hire lifeguards through -- it'll cost about $185 for a three hour party. Of course, you can always price out your local public pool lifeguards too.
The Red Cross says you can't have too many layers of protection.
"You would never leave a child around a loaded gun. Water is the same way," said Trudy Thompson-Rice.
Thompson-Rice, a spokesperson for the Red Cross' Grand Canyon chapter, knows all too well the dangers of water.
"I lost a cousin when I was a young child to drowning in a home and it changes a family forever."
She says the deadly weekend drownings at holiday cookouts are just heartbreaking.
"I think you're watching, you think I'm watching..I turn around to flip burgers on the grill and nobody's watching every child every second and that's what it takes."
Thompson-Rice says hiring a lifeguard for a private pool party is certainly an option for parents.
"If you choose to hire a lifeguard, choose someone certified through some accrediting body, doesn't have to be the Red Cross -- we're all about making sure people are safe around water."
She also suggests rotating adults at the party and appointing them designated pool watchers -- kind of like a designated driver.
"They need to be standing, surveying every inch of water and keeping an eye on every child."
Thompson-Rice adds that there are multiple layers to pool safety.
"Not only parents watching, swim lessons, parents need to have CPR lessons, locked gates, no propping them open..drownings are preventable and it's such a hard thing to hear that it's still happening."
We asked on our Facebook page if people would hire a lifeguard to tend their event and received a lot of responses:
- Allyson: "Nope! You just need to learn to pay attention to your kids. I do it all the time."
- Diane: "I'd hire 10 of them if it meant ONE life saved."
