How to Write a Water Emergency Action Plan for a Pool, Camp or Event

A water emergency action plan is a one-page document that says who does what if someone is in trouble in the water: who calls 911, who reaches or throws, who clears the water and watches everyone else, and who meets responders at the entrance. It also lists your address, where the rescue equipment is, and how often you practice. Camps, schools, faith groups and families with pools all benefit from one.

Our printable template at the end of this page walks you through each part. This guide explains what to write and why.

What an emergency action plan is

In an emergency, people freeze or all do the same thing at once. A plan prevents that by giving each person one job they have already practiced.

Michigan's rules for children's camps are a useful model. They require a written aquatic emergency plan (opens in a new tab) for each water activity, covering four areas:

1. Rescue procedures and how often you drill them, including how the plan is started and each staff member's job.
2. Accounting for everyone: how you know where every swimmer is, during normal swimming and during an emergency.
3. Prompt evacuation: a signal to clear the water and a safe place to gather.
4. Calling outside emergency services: when the call is made, who makes it and how.

That outline works for a backyard pool party or a mosque picnic at a lake just as well as for a camp.

Roles: who does what

Write names, not just job titles, and pick a backup for each role.

At a small family gathering, one adult may hold two roles. The Water Watcher should never be the person cooking, hosting or minding a baby. For beaches with no lifeguard, the National Weather Service suggests you designate a water watcher who can call 9-1-1 (opens in a new tab).

Your address and how responders get in

Responders lose time when they can't find you. Delaware's state 911 office notes that delays may happen if responders can't find you (opens in a new tab), and suggests putting driving directions next to each telephone.

Write down:

• the full street address, nearest cross streets and borough or town;
• which gate, door or parking lot an ambulance should use, and whether it is locked;
• for parks, beaches and lakes, the name of the area, the nearest landmark and the entrance you used.

Our guide to calling 911 near water explains how to describe a location without an address.

Equipment and where it lives

List each item and its exact location, and check it each time you swim:

• a charged phone close to the water;
• reaching and throwing equipment, such as a reaching pole, ring buoy or throw rope (see pool rescue equipment);
• life jackets in the right sizes for children and weaker swimmers;
• a first aid kit;
• the nearest AED, if there is one. The Red Cross chain of drowning survival (opens in a new tab) ends with using an AED if available.

The lost-swimmer plan

Every plan needs a section for when someone can't be found. The Red Cross rule is: if a child is missing, check the water first (opens in a new tab), because seconds count.

New York State's camp rules require a lost swimmer plan (opens in a new tab) whenever a buddy check fails or anyone is reported missing. It must include clearing the water, supervising the other campers and searching for the missing swimmer. New York camps must also check swimmers against their records at least every 15 minutes. Families and event organizers can borrow the same idea: count heads at regular times, and start the lost-swimmer plan the moment a count doesn't match.

Practice drills

A plan nobody has practiced is just paper. Michigan's camp guidance says plans must be understood and practiced by all staff (opens in a new tab), with training before camp and ongoing practice at regular intervals through the summer.

• Walk through the plan with everyone who has a role before the first swim of the season.
• Run a short drill: sound the signal, clear the water, count heads, make a pretend 911 call, and bring the equipment.
• Time it. Then talk about what went wrong and fix the plan.
• Drill again whenever new staff, volunteers or relatives take a role.

Who has trained in CPR?

Write down who on site has current CPR and first aid training. The National Drowning Prevention Alliance lists CPR training with rescue breaths and basic water rescue skills (opens in a new tab), plus a phone ready to call 911, as emergency preparation, one of its five layers of protection. If nobody is trained, book a class: see where to learn CPR.

Plans for different settings

• Home pool. Keep it short: address, Water Watcher rota, phone and equipment locations, who is CPR-trained. Add it to your family water safety plan, and use the Family water safety plan tool.
• Pool party or picnic. Name the Water Watchers in shifts before guests arrive. See how to host a safe pool party.
• Camp or school trip. Follow your state's camp rules, which often require a written plan. See summer camp water safety.
• Faith or community event near water. Assign roles at the planning meeting and print copies for each leader. See water safety for faith groups.

What you can do today

• Download the template below and fill in your address and equipment list.
• Choose names for each role, plus a backup for each.
• Put the plan where everyone can see it: on the pool gate, in the camp office, in the trip folder.
• Schedule a 10-minute drill before your next swim day.
• Print a stack of Water Watcher cards for your next event.