Preventing Drowning Tragedies

Stay safe around water this festive season by following these practical drowning prevention strategies:
• Learn life-saving skills, including the basics of swimming and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
• Know who to call in an emergency.
• Fence ponds, pools and water storage: Install a four-sided isolation fence at least 1.2m high with a self-closing and self-latching gate to control access to bodies of water.
• Be on the lookout. Drownings happen quickly and quietly. Never leave children to supervise each other. A responsible adult must always watch out for children near a pool, Jacuzzi, or natural body of water.
• Stay within arm’s length of children under four around water.
• Don’t drink or be distracted by work, phone calls, technology, or anything else that may absorb your attention when watching children.
• Fit a pool net immediately after swimming and replace it every time.
• Don’t rely on armbands, floating toys, inner tubes, or devices to keep children safe.
• Teach children to swim, but never leave them unsupervised around water.
• Consider installing alarms. Various water alarms, such as a floating pool alarm or external security beams, can be installed to add to the precautions of fencing and supervision.
• Beware of drains. Children must be kept away from pool or Jacuzzi drains as hair or limbs could become trapped in the suction.
• Toilets, bathtubs, water features, fish tanks, pet water bowls and buckets. Children can drown wherever there is access to water, and a baby can drown in just 2.5cm of water.

EMERGENCY NUMBERS:
• George Fire and Rescue: 044 801 6311
• Toll-Free Disaster Number: 087 152 9999
• NSRI (National Sea Rescue Institute): 082 990 5955 | 087 094 9774

Stay alert and make water safety a priority to prevent drowning tragedies.