Drowning – how do we decrease the risk for our children in South Africa?

It is fast becoming one of those topics where someone you know, or someone in your group of friends or family, knows of an incident of accidental drowning occurring amongst them.

It is suspected that during the summer months, the risk of accidental drowning in South Africa increases, but this almost solely applies to residential areas where pools are installed and made use of during this time. For most part, and including the larger part of the country, there are a number of people residing on river banks, or close to large bodies of water all year round. These people are thus also affected by weather conditions and the need to use the water on a daily basis.

Education plays a vital role in ensuring that people are aware of the risks involved when in close vicinity of these bodies of water, and how to assist were an incident to occur. For those of us who have the time and the means, it may be useful to complete a first aid course, where First Aid Level 1 is a two day course covering the basics in first aid, including CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation), choking, impaled object management, fracture management and bleeding control.

One may also complete a short 3 hour CPR course, which teaches on how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on adults, children and infants. Although extremely important, we cannot exclusively focus on educating those people who have pools in their back yards relating to the dangers of accidental drowning, we need to make an exerted effort to also educate those who collect their water from reservoirs or dams, wash up in rivers, and have general large amounts of water around their areas of residence.

With regards to pools, we are all aware of the necessary safety measures that need to be in place to protect our children and loved ones from accidental drowning. If you type the words ‘Pool Safety’ into GoogleTM , pages upon pages of tips for securing pools are available, which is definitely encouraging, but type in ‘River safety’, and the pages will encourage those who canoe, do extreme white water rafting, and river guides to be cautious while performing their activities.

One of the pages found, www.ekurhuleni.com, displays some sound advice for those who may find themselves in danger when in a river:

* River currents are often stronger than they appear. You can throw a twig in to check how fast the river is flowing.
* If you are caught in a current, float on your back and travel downstream feet first to protect your head. Angle towards the shore.
* Remember that river conditions can change rapidly and without warning due to heavy rains.
* Take care on river banks. They are often slippery and can even crumble away, resulting in someone accidentally falling into the water.
* A place that might usually be safe to cross will be lethal when there has been even a slight rainstorm somewhere along the river. Rather walk a little further to a safe crossing and live another day.

Also, it may be important to mention, for those of us who either collect large amounts of water for agricultural purposes, or purely for household use as it would be in many informal settlement, it is imperative that buckets, drums, and large vats of water be covered and inaccessible to children.

And to re-emphasise the importance of pool safety, here are some tips to prevent an accidental drowning in your pool:

* Direct, uninterrupted adult supervision is key when children are making use of the pool.
* Enclose the pool in a fence with a lockable gate or automatic latch mechanism.
* Cover the pool with a safety net or similar device.
* Pool alarms that signal when there is an unexplained splash in the pool are now readily available.
* Close and lock doors in the residence if they lead directly into the pool area.
* Swimming lessons for children may reduce panic in children if accidentally submerged in water.

Please carefully consider and remember that there is no substitute for direct adult supervision with regard to children and water safety. This may be the most important factor which may save your child from being another statistic in accidental drowning in South Africa.

Information from ER24