Background: We live in the northeast and bought a house with a nice pool. Previously we had thought a pool was a no-go with our 3 young kids, but this house was exactly what we wanted and the pool and outdoor entertainment area is really nice. So we aren't moving into this new house for a little while (rent back) but in the meantime my 3 year old daughter just almost drowned at the local pool club this past week right in front of a lifeguard. It was the scariest moment of my life getting the phone call at work. Long story short, she is fine but was taken to the hospital in an ambulance and watched overnight to be sure. My wife is really shaken up (she witnessed it, I didn't) and we are both second guessing this whole pool thing.
Luckily, this pool already comes with a very nice automatic cover (aquamatic systems) that when closed has no gaps and can support a 400+lb bear walking on it (happened to a friend). Only way to open it is with a key. There is also a square-shaped adjacent hot tub that doesn't have a cover. We are wondering if we bite the bullet and put an aquamatic cover over this as well. There's a fence around the perimeter of the yard, but nothing that guards the pool from the yard. I'm already planning on looking into another segment of fencing to divide the pool from the rest of the yard. But what other security measures have people here tried? I have read about pool alarms and bracelets for kids. This house is very tech-forward (all pool controls are accessible from a system in the wall that controls everything else in the house like sound, alarms, cameras, etc). I'm thinking about adding some connected outdoor cameras around the pool to detect motion. I haven't yet found a "smart" pool alarm system that I could integrate to the smart home system or with an app on my phone.
Also we plan on continuing to make sure our kids are all as good of swimmers as possible (7 yr old is pretty good, 5 year old uses a floaty but is in lessons, and 3 yr old was in lessons already but can't swim a lick, obviously). Wife and I are going to certify for child cpr (re-cert in my case).
Any feedback appreciated.