WATCH: Health First Joins Worldwide Effort to Prevent Drowning During Special Event at Palm Bay Aquatic Center

Health First joined Palm Bay Fire Rescue and city partners to teachbasic water safety practices

WATCH: Health First proudly joined local partners on June 20 at the Palm Bay Aquatic Center to support the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson (WLSL), a global event focused on drowning prevention through formal swim instruction.

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Trauma experts, first responders, and lifeguards team up for hands-on instruction during global swim lesson event

BREVARD COUNTY • PALM BAY, FLORIDA ─ Health First proudly joined local partners June 20 at the Palm Bay Aquatic Center to support the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson (WLSL), a global event focused on drowning prevention through formal swim instruction.

This marked Health First’s first year supporting the event in Palm Bay, where about 120 participants gathered at the Aquatic Center to take part in the global WLSL initiative.

The health system’s involvement included educational outreach, support from trauma and emergency leaders and a special appearance by its emergency helicopter, First Flight.

Health First joined Palm Bay Fire Rescue and city partners to teach and demonstrate basic water safety practices — and reinforce awareness among both kids and parents.

“With Health First Holmes Regional Medical Center being our local Level II trauma center — it’s important that we engage with the community and the public to make sure that we can help support prevention of injuries before they, God forbid, end up in our emergency department,” said Dr. Larissa Dudley, EMS Medical Director for Health First’s First Flight.

“We’re really happy to support the health and the well-being of the children here in Palm Bay,” she said.

The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson was launched in 2010 by the World Waterpark Association and has since grown into a worldwide movement spanning 54 countries and six continents.

Since its inception, more than 413,000 children and adults have taken part in the initiative, which has generated more than 3 billion media impressions — all built around one message: Swimming Lessons Save Lives.

According to the WLSL website, “Swimming is a life-saving skill for children and a vital tool to prevent drowning, the number one cause of death for U.S. children ages 1-4, and second leading cause for ages 5-14.

Research from the American Academy of Pediatrics shows risk of drowning can be reduced by 88% if children participate in formal swimming lessons between the ages of 1-4.  Yet, a survey conducted by the American Red Cross in 2020 found that more than half of Americans (56%) either can’t swim or don’t have the necessary basic swimming skills.  TEAM WLSL is on a mission to make everyone aware that swim lessons are vital.”

The lesson is especially critical in Florida, where access to pools, beaches and rivers increases risk for children who don’t know how to swim.

“Between the number of pools that people have in their homes or in their residential areas, our close proximity to the ocean and the Indian River, children who don’t know how to swim are susceptible to drowning,” Dudley said. “So, anything that we can do to try to decrease those odds and enhance their ability to swim is important.”

In addition to teaching water safety techniques, the event served as a critical opportunity to educate families on how to protect children in everyday environments — whether at a public pool, backyard party, or beach.

“It is important for parents to be watching their kids, to be paying attention when they’re at or near water,” Dudley advised. “For those who don’t know how to swim, implementing life jackets is helpful, and if there’s any opportunity where there’s going to be large groups of people, to bring in lifeguards — certified lifeguards — to help maintain the safety of the area.”

“Anything that we can do to partner to try to prevent these injuries from happening is essential,” said Dudley.

Health First’s First Flight helicopter also landed nearby, offering a closer look at emergency response equipment and providing families a moment of inspiration.

Palm Bay Fire Rescue Assistant Chief John Ringleb said the event took months of planning and wouldn’t have been possible without Health First and other collaborators.

“This doesn’t happen unless we have the help from community partners such as Health First,” he said.

The goal, he said, was twofold: teach children how to stay safe, and help families better understand what to expect in an emergency.

“The important thing we’re trying to do here is at the awareness level for not just the kids but for adults as well,” Ringleb said.
Palm Bay is no stranger to water emergencies, he added.

“We do have our fair share of water emergencies. Not all of them end up in something that’s catastrophic,” he said.

“We have a lot of near-drownings. We are an intercoastal community, so we do have the opportunity for water emergencies to happen not just in your backyard but anywhere within the city.”
That’s why early education is essential.

“Studies have shown that any time that even a child before the age of 5 receives some sort of organized swimming lesson or water safety, that it reduces their chance of a water emergency somewhere down the road significantly,” Ringleb said.

He also emphasized the importance of helping children feel comfortable with emergency responders.

“We don’t want the kids to be scared of the responders or the rescuers,” he said. “I know in those situations it’s very high stressful. Everybody’s really sort of in panic mode, so we want to sort of de-escalate, bring an air of safety and support, not just to the patients, but to the families as well.”

Palm Bay Mayor Rob Medina thanked Health First for its participation and ongoing investment in the Palm Bay community.

“This is an extraordinary event when it comes to collaboration,” he said. “Health First is a great partner, and I love the fact that you brought your helicopter — that really inspires other children.”

Medina said the initiative reflects Palm Bay’s commitment to quality of life — and Health First’s shared dedication to saving lives.

“This is important because teaching kids how to swim is critical to our continued enhancement of quality of life,” he said.

Palm Bay has recently brought the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson to the community — and the event continues to grow in reach and impact each year.

“This is our second time hosting this,” said Assistant Fire Chief John Ringleb. “But the World’s Largest Swim Lesson has been around for years and years and years. We’ve just brought that venue here so that we can be a part of that whole initiative.”

With Health First joining the effort this year, the event took on even greater significance — blending healthcare, first response and community outreach into one meaningful day by the pool.

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