How many times have you heard in the news bulletin that children and sometimes adult were found drown in the swimming pools at homes or recreational centres? The average of such occurrences should be relatively high individually...say 10 times in the last 5 years.Swimming is a popular and fun summer activity for children to relax, play and cool off the heat. However, a swimming pool can turn deadly in an instant. Numerous child injuries are reported each year in conjunction with swimming pool accidents, resulting in broken bones, permanent brain damage, neck or spinal cord injuries and death. Statistics on swimming pool accidents show that young children are especially vulnerable to pool injuries.
Drowning is the primary result of swimming pool accidents. According to reports, 1,500 children drown each year in a pool accident in the United States. Toddlers and young male teenagers are most at risk for drowning in swimming pool accidents. Many parents may not realize the danger swimming pools represent, but according to MedScape.com statistics, drowning causes 30% of all deaths for children under the age of 4. Additionally, for all children under the age of 14, drowning is second only to car accidents as the leading cause of death.
In addition, the consumer product safety commission in the US has received reports of 200 children drowning in hot tubs, bathtubs and whirlpools. While you may expect that most children who die in drowning accidents are unsupervised, the exact opposite is true.
According to Safe Kids USA, 88% of children who die in swimming pool accidents were
supervised at the time of the accident, either by a lifeguard, parent, sibling or family friend. Only 10% of child drowning victims were completely unsupervised. There are fewer statistics available for child injuries in swimming pool accidents, since many minor accidents go unreported. Hospital reports in the US (New York alone) estimates that 2,600 children are injured in near-drowning accidents each year, but that doesn't include the many other injuries suffered in diving accidents, slips and falls around pools, or pool drain accidents.In our part of the world, you may be quick to say we do not have as many swimming pools as in the US and other western countries. As true as this may be, we have recorded several incidents of swimming pool incidents in homes, recreational facilities and in schools. Interestingly, this has often occurred in the above average homes and families. A good example was the news in 2009 of the death of the grandson of the prime minister of Zimbabwe as a result of drowning in the swimming pool in the residence of the PM. Of course, there are many others like that which are not reported.
There are safety tips that are able to eliminate drowning at the pool or at the least, reduce the number of cases to the bearest minimum. Some of these tips are itemised below:
- Never allow your youngster to swim alone without any adult supervision. It is quite common to develop a cramp underwater, or for accidents like hitting your head while diving for example, to occur. It is paramount that there should be persons around to help in such situations.
- Do not allow children with no knowledge of swimming in or around the pool. For good pool safety make sure that all kids above the age of 4 attend a certified swimming class, or at least learn basic flotation techniques and life saving techniques in case of accidents.
- Children younger than 4 should always be accompanied by their parents in the pool.
Enclose your pool with high fences, which can be locked. Do not leave the pool open and accessible since children can fall inside. Keep your pool safe, and keep your kids away from the poolside. - Avoid leaving your kids alone even with small portable pools or water bodies like buckets, fountains, and barrels. There is always a danger of drowning occuring even in small bodies of water.
- In case of a backyard swimming pool, make sure that the cover of the pool is completely lifted over the pool. Do not partially open the pool. Also make sure that your child does not walk over the pool cover.
- Spas and Hot Tubs must also be avoided, especially in the case of younger children who are susceptible to overheating.
- Make sure that there is always a life saving floation device handy near the pool. Also, every parent should be conversant in basic first aid (cardio pulmonary resuscitation-CPR & artificial respiration –AR) techniques in case of any accident.
- The last, but not the least, to ensure swimming pool safety, be observant. Watch what your kids are up to, and supervise their activities. Do not leave them alone at any time around any body of water.
Remember that they are the little ones, very vague and unaware and are very eager to explore all opportunities to have fun.
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