Tragedy can occur in an instance. Personally, I prefer to post about positive, innovative approaches to safety or similar. This post, however, seems imperative as while it may seem we are inundated by reminders about pool safety, tragedies are still occurring at an alarming rate as the stats here show:
280 people drowned in Australian waterways between the 1st of July 2015 and the 30th of June 2016. 96 of them lost their lives within NSW. This equates to 34% of all drowning deaths in Australia.
45 drowning deaths within Australia occurred in swimming pools. Children under five contributed to 11 of these deaths.
How can you and your family stay safe around water?
* Never take your eyes off your children around water.
* Do not expect older children to look after their younger siblings, children have short attention spans and can be easily distracted.
* Remain within arm’s reach of your children.
* If you have to leave the water area, be sure to take your kids with you.
* Restrict the access to waterways through barriers such as pool fencing.
* Remove any hazards near the pool fencing such as outdoor furniture that may assist children climbing over the fence.
* Never prop open a pool fence gate that will allow children unobstructed access to your pool.
* Swimming lessons are a great way to familiarise and improve your child’s water skills.
* Enrol in a resuscitation course and stay up to date to ensure you are skilled in case of an emergency.
* Assess your home and surrounding area for water hazards, including buckets that could be filled with water, or nearby water courses and determine how you can prevent your children from accessing these.
Although there has been a decrease overall in drownings, there’s still more to do. Each one of the persons in the stats count, as do their family (also why I have not included any of their personal, private stories here). I know I do not want my family to be included in next years stats. This Summer, remember to stay safe and keep your head above water.
Download the full report here: http://www.royallifesaving.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/18085/RLS_NDR2016_ReportLR.pdf