4 Truths About Children Who Drown . . .

You think that it could never happen to your family, but each year many children drown. These incidents are not only preventable but predictable. Here are the four truths about children who drown and what you can do to help keep your children safe around water.

Children drown quickly and silently — in a matter of seconds. Adults who are present when a child drowns are often distracted in some way, by talking on the phone, chatting with other adults around the pool or reading.

What you can do about it:

►Actively supervise your children around water, and have a phone nearby to call for help in an emergency.

►When there are several adults present and children are swimming, use a Water Watcher card to designate an adult as the Water Watcher to prevent gaps in supervision.

Curious children, especially those younger than 4 years old, can easily find and fall into bodies of water like pools, tubs and buckets. Often they are discovered too late to save.

What you can do about it:

►Never leave a child alone when in or near a body of water — even if it’s less than a few centimeters deep.

►For pool owners, make sure your pool has four-sided fencing and self-closing, self-latching gates.

►Hot tubs should be covered and locked when not in use.

Drowning victims who are rescued from the water need Basic Life Support immediately — before the paramedics arrive. BLS can prevent brain damage and make a difference between life and death.

What you can do about it:

►Get certified.

►There are plenty of BLS classes available to meet busy schedules.

►Contact your local health department or hospital to see if they offer training.

Children from non-swimming households are eight times more likely to be at risk of drowning. These children have especially low rates of swimming ability and high rates of drowning.

What you can do about it:

►Enroll your child in swimming lessons.

►If you do not know how to swim either, enroll in a parent-child learn-to-swim class.

Tips to prevent drownings at home

 

►Always stay within an arm’s reach of your child when he or she is in or near the bathtub, toilet, pools, spas or buckets.

►Never leave your child alone or in the care of older children during bath time.

►Once bath time is over, drain the tub immediately.

►Empty all buckets, containers and wading pools immediately after use. Store them upside down and out of children’s reach.

►Keep toilet lids closed and use toilet seat locks.

►Never leave your child unattended in a tub or around any other body of water, even if he or she knows how to swim.

►Keep doors to bathrooms and laundry rooms closed.

►Infants in baby bath seats and rings must be watched every second.

Courtesy: Panorama | 2011 Issue