A two-and-a-half-year-old Kelowna girl is lucky to be alive after she was saved from drowning by a neighbour. Chris Olsen reviews pool safety and devices supposed to prevent drowning.

Swim lessons are a rite of summer. At Aquaventures in Vancouver, kids are taught how to swim starting at just six months of age.

"Once they are age three that is the magic age to go without their parent," Aquaventures' Carla Zarifeh said.

But learning how to swim is only one element of pool safety -- particularly for backyard pools.

Ian Pike, director of the B.C. Injury Research and Prevention Unit with the Child and Family Research Institute, says parents have to be their children's lifeguard.

Pike says anyone with a permanent pool should have it surrounded by a four-sided fence with a self-latching gate.

"There is no substitute for preventing people from getting next to the perimeter of the pool," he said.

There are devices that may detect if something or someone has fallen into the pool or a water-sensing alarm your child can wear like a watch that sets off an alarm if it gets wet or even locking pool covers that can hold the weight of an adult. Ian Pike says they are good back-ups, but nothing works better than a fence.

He says a fence saves lives with a 70-per-cent reduction in pool drownings in jurisdictions which require fencing. Yet in B.C. pool fencing is not required by law.

Temporary pools are also a risk.

"If you don't have an enclosure and it's a temporary pool, empty the pool when the use is finished for the day and I know that's a hassle and I know there are water restrictions, but to leave a pool even with a couple of inches of water in it is a drowning hazard," Pike said.

And when children are in a pool, there is no substitute for parent supervision -- close supervision.

"No child is drown-proof. Don't leave them alone," Pike said.

Even ones who have had swimming lessons.

"Turn your head in a blink and they are underwater," Zarifeh said.

Finally, keep in mind more than half of drownings occur in natural waters like an ocean, river or a lake. For toddlers, two-thirds of drowning accidents occur in their own bathtub.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen