Josh the Baby Otter Water Safety Program

Josh the Baby Otter Water Safety Program strives to educate young children about the importance of water safety. Learn more by watching this Video.

You can get involved by visiting joshtheotter.org 

Reach out to your local Rotary Club to see if they would like to get involved.

Start this program yourself by visiting Joshtheotter.org for resources and seek out partnerships within your local community.  Great partnerships include local preschools, elementary schools, local business and service clubs that can sponsor the books to be donated.  

Volunteers lead a classroom discussion on water safety with preschoolers and young children.  Volunteers read Josh the Baby Otter book in class and lead additional discussion.  The main points of the lesson are for children to understand;

1. Never go by the water without an adult.

2. Always swim with a buddy when being supervised by an adult.

3. Learn how to float on your back.

Once the children understand the lesson, they take the Water Safety Pledge and can meet Josh!

Each child receives a book, coloring book and sticker.

According to the 2003 CDC Statistics, drowning is the second leading cause of death in children ages 1-14 in the United States.

Young children can drown in as little as 1 inch of water. 

Drowning is silent.

On a warm spring day in June 2008 the family gathered at Joshua's home.   Joshua slipped out of sight for just a few short moments and was discovered in the pool, unconscious and unresponsive.  The family immediately started CPR and he way life-flighted to the Children's Hospital in Omaha, NE.  Tragically, Joshua was taken off of life support and passed shortly after.  His parents had believed they had all the safety precautions in place for a safe pool, but found after much soul searching and research they learned that drowning is the #1 cause of death in children ages 1-4 years old and #2 in children under 14 years old.  They started the Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation and wrote the book "Josh the Baby Otter" to teach young children how to be safe around the water and to never go by the water without an adult.  

Water safety has always been an important part of my life.  When I was young, I almost drowned in a friends pool trying to rescue my younger sibling.  Thankfully my Aunt rescued both of us and we were safe.  I have carried this horrific event with me throughout my life.  I became a certified lifeguard and the age of 16 years old and taught swim lessons for many years.  When Josh the Baby Otter was introduced to my Rotary Club, I felt compelled to jump in with both feet.  I want to save more lives and help parents and children realize the responsibility of water safety.  Children need to be responsible by never going by water without an adult.  Adults need to realize that they should never leave a child alone by water, encourage their children to practice water safety and to teach their children how to float and swim.  I am an advocate for Water Safety and want to empower others to join me on this preventable epidemic.