Hard Facts About Drowning at Home.

Facts about drowning at home

It’s not just about swimming pools and beaches.

The horrible truth that we all need to hear is that anyone can drown. Facts about drowning at home.

According to the National Sea Rescue Institute, the NSRI, the facts about drowning are that there are 1 484 drownings in South Africa annually, with a third of the victims (450) being young children under 14.

Mostly, whenever we talk about drowning and water safety, our minds immediately go to swimming pools, beaches and other recreational water spaces.

How it happens around the home.

What we don’t talk about is the fact that most children who drown, drown around the home in buckets, bathtubs and containers. What makes this statistic even worse is the fact these deaths are truly preventable. You don’t have to be a professionally trained lifeguard or paramedic to prevent these deaths. You simply have to pull the plug after your bath or tip out that bucket.

According to Safekids.org, drowning is the leading cause of injury-related death among children between 1 and 4 years old. (It’s also the third leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children 19 and under.) Most importantly however, children less than a year old are more likely to drown at home in the bathtub or a bucket, than any other recreational water spaces.

Let’s talk about prevention.

One of the best ways to prevent these horrible, unnecessary deaths is through education. Educate helpers, caregivers, and older children about the dangers of leaving even a shallow bucket or container full of water. Teach them to empty buckets and kiddies pools and drain bathtubs every single time they are done with them.

Don’t be fooled by its beauty.

Another often overlooked danger zone is decorative water features and fishponds. The same rules should apply as to larger bodies of water with nets, fences or safety covers being the only way to go.

Don’t just stand around.

If you have a pool and there are people swimming in it, regardless of their age, it’s best to appoint a “Water Watcher”. This person remains outside the pool, and actively supervises the younger swimmers while also keeping an eye on even the most experienced swimmers. (Cramps, seizures and traumatic injuries can happen to anyone.)

The Water Watcher shouldn’t be distracted, intoxicated or on their phone.

SafeKids.org suggests that you print and laminate a physical “Water Watcher Card” and hand it to the responsible adult, to hold until their shift ends.

Other general water safety tips include:

• Actively watch kids when they are in or around water. Young children can drown in as little as 5cm’s of water, so it’s important to keep them within an arm’s reach of an adult.
• Empty tubs, buckets, containers, and kids’ pools immediately after use and store them upside down and out of children’s reach.
• Keep toilet lids and doors to bathrooms and laundry rooms closed when not in use.
• Install fences around home pools. A pool fence should surround all sides of the pool and be at least 130cm tall with self-closing and self-latching gates.
• Learn CPR and basic water rescue skills. It is important to know how to respond in an emergency without putting yourself at risk.

Teach your kids not to be heroes’ when it comes to drowning.

It is human nature to help someone in need, and usually this is an admirable thing, but it can be extremely dangerous for young children. Too often we hear heartbreaking stories of attempted rescues gone wrong. Family members and friends rushing to help a loved one in trouble, only to die themselves. Young children in particular should be warned against trying to help by themselves and told that their biggest super power will be in calling an adult as quickly and loudly as possibly.

Pull the plug, tip the bucket, watch the kids.

Water is such an important part of human existence and we have such a fear for when our taps run dry…but we can never forget its awesome destructive power and we can never afford to loose respect for it.