WEBWIRE – Saturday, April 25, 2009

Infant swim lessons with Dr. Harvey Barnett prevent infant drowning at the start of the 2009 pool season. That’s the subject as Dr. Harvey Barnett, founder of Infant Swimming Resource, will be Dr. Christopher Avery’s special guest on the next segment of “Beyond Obligation” Barnett has invested 43 years developing the trademark Infant Swimming Resource method used by 500 instructors around the world to teach water self-rescue to infants. The interview airs live Monday, April 27, 2009 at 9PM Eastern / 6PM Pacific. Details at http://www.christopheravery.com/btr/harveybarnett

Infant swim lessons with Dr. Harvey Barnett is a must hear interview. Says Avery, “Infant drowning is the leading cause of accidental death among infants. No one has confronted this issue with the determination, foresight, and scientific acumen Dr. Barnett has. He is one of my heroes who has literally gone “Beyond Obligation” and changed the world for the rest of us” You can listen to the interview at http://www.christopheravery.com/btr/harveybarnett

Listeners will receive tips and resources they can apply to their infant children and grandchildren, as well as to their backyard and neighborhood pools to reduce the incidence of infant drowning this pool season. If listeners have access to the internet during the segment, Barnett will be referring to web pages where they can see demonstrations of infant self-rescue in the water, as well as pool and fence structures and accessories, life preservers that do and don’t work and more.

Tune in to the interview Monday, April 27, 9PM Eastern / 6PM Pacific at http://www.christopheravery.com/btr/harveybarnett

Related Links

Infant swim lessons

Harvey Barnett

Infant Swimming Resource

On my talk radio program “Beyond Obligation” I interview my heroes — each an individual who confronted a reality no one else would or could face, and changed the world for the rest of us.

I interviewed Dr. Barnett in February 2009 about his responsibility as a leader.

In this episode Monday April 27 we’ll focus on you and the infants and pools in your life. We’ll be pointing you to videos and other resources Barnett created to prevent infant drowning.

Who is Harvey Barnett, PhD?

With a Ph.D. and 43 years experience, Barnett developed the first and only drowning prevention strategy that has earned a 100% safety record. ISR is a truly comprehensive infant swimming education and self-rescue skill instruction method that is well established in the fields of health care, psychology/behavioral sciences, anatomy and physiology.

Since 1966, ISR has safely delivered over 7 million lessons to teach water self-rescue skills to more than 177,224 babies and has educated parents and medical experts nationwide on water safety techniques and proven instruction methods. To date, ISR has 788 documented cases of children using ISR techniques to save themselves from drowning.

Read more at http://www.infantswim.com

And now, for Michelle’s questions:

What’s your definition of “responsibility”?

First, thanks for asking such a relevant question! You are my newest friend forever Michelle.

Owning your power and ability to create, choose and attract. Period.

Most people expect something more at the end of this definition, as in “create, choose and attract what?” The answer would be “your entire reality.”

The operative word is “Owning.” I take for granted that we are each completely creating, choosing, and attracting our reality. Mastering responsibility is the process of owning that more and more.

What’s your favorite aspect of being on Twitter?

I’m still pretty new on Twitter, but as a social media marketing experiment, I like how it connects me to all sorts of networks. The first hundred or so people I followed are in direct marketing, but now I’m discovering networks for leadership, teamwork, politics, relationships and more.

Today I heard from a friend I haven’t seen in 8 or 10 years. I tweeted about interviewing Dr. Harvey Barnett and after the interview Dolly Garlo emailed me about what an inspiring interview it was. We were following each other on Twitter and I had not realized who she was. And now she is helping me research a business question that’s been nagging me for a few weeks. Dolly has better skills than me to look into it and doing so will benefit her.

It’s a win/win/win.

What would happen during your Perfect Day, where you can do what you want, when you want, how you want? Describe it from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed.

Okay. First, let’s change that from the hypothetical “would” to “does” or “will.”

I wake up for the sunrise in a seaside resort on the outer banks of South Carolina — or the coast of France or Italy or Greece, or maybe the Baha. I meet my leadership mentoring clients for breakfast followed by 2 hours of Application Mastery Group. That’s where we help each other with my proprietary process, the Perfect Problem Breakthrough™, to become powerful leaders .

Then we mount our road bikes and cover 40-60 miles of coastline, catching lunch en route. Or maybe we hop aboard our flotilla of 12 to 15 meter sailboats and play cat & mouse to the next island.

After a refreshing swim we spend another 2 hours in Application Mastery Groups developing more leadership power and freedom, and expanding choices. Then comes cocktails, dinner, and early to my room for a call home before bed.

No wait a minute. Maybe the perfect day will begin waking up with my wife in our hill-top home in Comfort…

It’s one of those — if I have to choose.

What’s your favorite movie of all time and why?

Whichever one I’m watching with my wife Amy. I’m not a big movie guy.

Why is Comfort, Texas named Comfort? Feel free to answer figuratively or literally.

Great question. I tell audiences I live in Comfort and keep my famiy in Comfort. The cool metaphor-for-life aspect of this is that Comfort (TX) is only 9 miles from Welfare (TX). But it is 70 miles from Utopia (TX).

Comfort is an unincoporated town of mabe 2000 people (and 20,000 cows) in the Texas Hill Country west of Austin and northwest of San Atonio. It’s on Interstate 10 about 45 minutes from the San Antonio airport. We moved here as a lifestyle decision in 2001 after 20 years in Austin.

It was named by German settlers, as were all the surrounding towns — Frederiscksburg, Boerne, Kerrville — and since it was a rest stop along the trail, it was aptly named.

The Interview rules

• leave me a comment saying: “interview me”
• all comments will be published, as long as your name isn’t Mr Cameltoe (obviously, Mr Cameltoe, who commented this week, is a robot spammer)
• I will submit to you five questions of my choice
• you can then answer the questions on your blog {with a link back to my blog}
• you should also post these rules, along with an offer to interview anyone else who e-mails you wanting to be interviewed
• anyone who asks to be interviewed should be sent 5 questions to answer on their blog
• it would be nice if the questions were individualized for each blogger

Fifteen years ago a fantastic mom and facilitator who taught my Team Leadership seminar for one of our clients found her two-year-old face-down in their pool. Luckily the child had just fallen in and was not yet drowned. It was a nerve-racking experience.

It was an in-ground pool in a lovely Austin, Texas home, just a few steps from the kitchen and family-room doors across the concrete patio to the pool. Needless to say, with-in hours contractors were contacted to alter the doors, latches, locks, and build an iron fence around the pool.

Leslie, the mom, told me she and her husband had standards about keeping the doors shut and latched, but somehow that morning the back kitchen door was ajar enough for her baby to toddle out and fall face-first into the pool.

There is some scary imagery for you.

Lifeguard marries into Coast Guard family

Recently my brother-in-law, a teacher and retired Coast Guard helicopter pilot and base commander (claims he used to have to fly over Miami and Bahamas beaches doing bikini checks), sent around a cool video promoting the Infant Swim Resource. As a former beach lifeguard in high school and college, and now a social-psychologist and teacher of personal responsibility…

I found this more than cool

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI_XzNfxjlY[/youtube]

The Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) mission is to get to the next child before that child gets to the water. It is the result of 40 years of research by a behavioral psychologist named Harvey Barnett.

They actually teach infants to save themselves. And, they report over 700 documented cases of self-rescue by infants they have trained.

When I was a lifeguard I used to cringe when I heard adults tell their kids Don’t go near the water or you will drown. Talk about the Law of Attraction, planting beliefs, and self-fulfilling prophecy. Dr. Barnett’s technique teaches infants that they have problem-solving skills they can put to use. So now adults can say Hey, if you go near the water you might have to rescue yourself, which of course you can.

Now that’s responsibility redefined!

In case you think I’m callous

I’ll add ISR promotes adult supervision as the #1 source of preventing infant drownings. I agree. (I’m just saying… you know?)

I tip my hat to Dr. Barnett

Maybe ISR is a cause I should get behind and use the Responsibility Redefined platform to promote. Maybe I should invite Dr. Barnett onto my Beyond Obligation radio talk show…

What do you think?