Heidi Burnett
Drowning Prevention Specialist
Heidi Burnett is a wife of almost 23 years and mother of twin daughters, now young adults. She has always loved the water and was a competitive swimmer in high school. She is a certified scuba diver who thoroughly enjoys exploring the underwater world.
Heidi's first experience with survival swim lessons was in 1986, when her twin cousins participated in a swim program to learn how to roll onto their backs and float. Years later, and after many more family members went through survival swim lessons, she enrolled her own twin daughters. She was so convinced and motivated about the lifesaving skills her daughters had learned, she decided to become a certified swim instructor who would teach the same life-saving skills.
She began teaching swim lessons in 2001 and since that time has taught more than 3,000 children throughout the United States. She worked diligently to expand her knowledge by participating in the Master Instructor training program and eventually made it to the highest level possible, Senior Master Instructor (SMI). As a Master Instructor, she studied theoretical concepts in behavioral sciences, child development, psychology, and child anatomy/physiology. She also traveled to various parts of the country and has trained more than 40 new swim instructors. In all those different areas and working with new instructors, she was responsible for the advertising of new students and securing training facilities. She was also mentoring 10 to 12 instructors throughout the U.S., providing guidance and troubleshooting lessons to enhance on-going instructor development.
As an SMI, Heidi trained instructors to become Master Instructors. As part of those trainings, she worked in-water with the instructors to identify theoretical gaps and to improve their efficiency as instructors. This was often aided by conducting many hours of academic and video review sessions. During re-certification conferences, she conducted workshops that supported instructor development. All this while building and maintaining her own client base in Orlando.
When she is teaching children the skills needed to survive an aquatic accident, she is firm, fair, and passionate about what she does. She loves meeting new people and educating them throughout the journey of their child's lessons. She wants to ensure that all students leave her program with the tools and confidence to survive any aquatic accident and that the parents are also educated on how to help maintain the newly acquired aquatic skills and how to encourage their children beyond the initial training. Parents will be provided plenty of opportunities to get in the water and learn how to reinforce these lifesaving skills. Heidi's goal is to teach children the skills they will use for a lifetime. She has learned that when children obtain aquatic skills at a young age, it exudes confidence and makes them more assured in other aspects of their lives too.
Episodes for this expert
-
Keeping Your Baby Safe in the Water
How can you help you your baby be comfortable — and safe — in the water?
