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A tragedy averted is just another day at the office for Dena Blum-Rothman. Dena, 41 and the mother of three children ranging in age from 2 to 11, is a certified Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) instructor. She teaches children to float -- a skill that can help save their lives -- often before they're even able to walk.
"Having grown up near and around water and now, as a mother, having a pool in my backyard and always doing water-related activities, I wanted to know my children were safe in the water," she says. Dena, who lives in Orange and teaches private classes in Westport, Wilton, Ridgefield and Stamford, wasn't always immersed in the business of flotation. Three years ago she walked away from a successful career in the hospitality industry in order to become part of what she calls a "life-saving endeavor."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drowning is the second-leading cause of injury-related death among children under the age of 15. The curriculum of ISR -- the company that developed Dena's course and certified her to teach it -- is based on the premise of a child accidentally becoming immersed in water. Dena works with children as young as 6 months to teach them perhaps the most critical first maneuver: rolling from their stomachs onto their backs, which allows them to breathe. The result is exquisitely simple: It helps prevent infants and children from drowning.
Typically, Dena's private lessons run for five consecutive days. The class length is usually 10 minutes, subject to change depending on the student's age. After the children learn how to hold their breath under water, Dena teaches them to roll onto their backs and then to float, rest and breathe. Eventually, she teaches these skills while the children are fully clothed because, she says, "accidental immersions don't only happen to children wearing bathing suits. Ninety percent of children who drown do so while wearing clothing."
"Young children have confidence that often outweighs their competence," Dena says. Because a 2-year-old will walk to the edge of a pool and want to jump in whether or not anyone is waiting in the water to catch them, Dena's classes help bring children's competency to the same level as their confidence. And it teaches children to cope with -- and survive -- an accident.
"I love going to work every day," says Dena. "I help save children's lives. What job could be better?"
For more information, go to www.isrinstructors.com/denablum, or call Dena at (203) 795-9600.
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