Founded by Harvey Barnett, Ph.D., in 1966, Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) endeavored to put an end to a preventable tragedy: childhood drowning. Barnett witnessed the aftermath of this tragedy after a neighbor’s 9 month old son reached the water alone. From that point on, Barnett vowed to do everything possible to ensure that Not One More Child Drowns. A behavioral scientist by trade, Barnett adapted his theoretical knowledge of learning to pioneer the Self-Rescue method used by ISR today to teach infants and young children to save themselves should they reach the water alone. Fortunately, what began as one man’s mission has transformed into a worldwide organization that is continually making large strides toward the day that Not One More Child Drowns. With over 50 years of research and development, the ISR program is nationally recognized as the safest provider of survival swimming lessons for infants and young children.
WHAT IS SELF-RESCUE?
Going beyond traditional swim instruction, ISR teaches children how to survive in the water. Depending on your child’s age, your child will learn different levels of self-rescue skills, including a roll-back-to-float and/or a swim-float-swim.
SAFETY FIRST At ISR, your child’s safety is our first priority. Each lesson is uniquely tailored to your child’s needs based on comprehensive assessment and continual monitoring of your child’s health and skill attainment. Because every child learns at his or her own pace, your child will be gently guided through each skill level.
ISR believes pool fences, supervision, and pool alarms are important parts of a necessary multi-layered approach to drowning prevention. However, traditional lines of defense break down, and the 4,000+ drowning deaths per year bear a grim testament to the fact that traditional approaches are missing a key component: the child. ISR’s core conviction is that the child is the most important part of a drowning prevention strategy and our 300,000+ ISR graduates and 800+ documented survival stories are proof that children can save themselves. Children are curious, capable, and have an uncanny ability to overcome obstacles like pool fences; at ISR we take that ability and teach them skills to potentially save themselves if they find themselves in the water alone.
What makes ISR different?
Infant Swimming Resource offers the safest survival swimming instruction method available. Lessons are taught in a customized, one-on-one lesson environment, and foster the development of swimming and safety in infants and young children with ISR’s proprietary Self-Rescue™ program. With over 50 years of research and development, highly trained certified Instructors committed to safety, and a proven history of success, parents can rest assured that their children are receiving the best possible instruction in the world today.
An important distinction between ISR and other programs is our emphasis on safety before, during and after lessons.
• Prior to beginning lessons, your child’s unique medical history is reviewed by a team of medical professionals to identify any potential health issues that may affect your child’s lessons and safety.
• During lessons: ISR’s protocols have allowed for more than 8 million lessons to be safely delivered by individually certified instructors.
• Parent education: Your child is not the only one learning during lessons. ISR’s program includes comprehensive parent education on aquatic safety and drowning prevention.