Southwest Public Health Department
This summer ten community swimming pools received Pool Cool certificates from Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department (SWNPHD). The Pool Cool program works with local swimming pools to train pool staff to provide children with education about skin cancer and sun safety during their swim lessons.
The Pool Cool program manager, Sarah Minnick, visited area swimming pools in June to increase awareness of sun protection practices with pool staff and pool users. Ten area swimming pools agreed to teach the Pool Cool program. Pools were asked to send pictures of lifeguards teaching the Pool Cool program and then they would qualify for the certificate and a cash incentive.
SWNPHD provided signage for each of the pools that was used to educate swimmers and act as a sun safety reminder. “We also provided the pools with free sunscreen so if someone forgets to apply it before arriving to the pool, they will have some readily available,” Minnick explained. “Using the Pool Cool program that the National Cancer Institute has made available for area pools is a great tool to help educate all swimmers and pool employees on sun safety and preventing skin cancer.”
In July and August Sarah Minnick visited those same pools again to present the pools with their certificate of completion and $250 dollars as a thank you for helping their communities prevent skin cancer. The pools that completed the program were Arapahoe Pool, Beaver City Pool, Benkelman Pool, Culbertson Pool, Curtis Pool, Cambridge Public Pool, Indianola Public Pool, Oxford Pool, Paxton Pool, and Wauneta Pool.
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer found in the United States; it accounts for nearly 1.3 million new cases of cancer each year. SWNPHD wants to remind everyone of the importance of using sunscreen every day, even in winter months, because ultraviolet or UV rays are an invisible radiation that is present all year round.
For more information call SWNPHD at 308-345-4223, one number, three locations. Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department serves Chase, Dundy, Frontier, Furnas, Hayes, Hitchcock, Keith, Perkins, and Red Willow counties. The website swhealth.ne.gov contains many resources and additional information helpful to prevent disease, promote wellness, and protect health. You can also follow SWNPHD on Facebook, Instagram, You Tube and TikTok.