Let’s Cut Tragedy at the Pool
Fence it in & keep a beady eye on things....
Drowning in swimming pools is the biggest cause of accidental
death for children under five. Proper pool fencing and supervision
could cut these tragic deaths by 90%.
Anyone, especially a parent, who saw George Clooney’s
gripping but convoluted movie “Syriana” may have
been chilled by the death by drowning of the young son of
the couple played by Matt Damon and Amanda Peet. It happened
at a social gathering in mid-afternoon at a crowded pool with
both parents present.
In one third of cases of children who die by drowning, that
is exactly how it happens in real life. In nine out of ten
cases drowning-related incidents occur while a child is being
supervised. Most children who drown in swimming pools had
been missing from sight for less than 5 minutes. Another thing
most of us don’t realise is that child drowning is a
quiet death. There’s no splashing to alert anyone that
a child is in trouble.
Statistics from the US government and the US Consumer Product
Safety Commission (CPSC) show that 350 children under 5 years
old drown in US swimming pools every year. In Australia’s
New South Wales alone, an average of 10 children under the
age of 5 die from drowning per year. The CPSC further tells
us that 2,600 children in the US under the age of five are
treated in hospital emergency rooms every year following submersion
incidents. Many of these result in permanent brain damage.
In the USA drowning is the leading cause of death accounting
for over 60% of deaths of children under five. Children aged
4 and under have a drowning rate that is more than three times
greater than any other age group and account for 80% of home
drownings. More than half of these drownings occur in the
child’s own home pool, and one third occur at the home
of friends, neighbours and relatives. Male children have a
drowning rate that is more than twice the rate of female children.
These are sad statistics and anyone caring for young children
needs to be aware of them.
Mercifully, it happens rarely. To put it in numerical perspective,
figures for the year 2003 show that were were nearly 8.9 cases
per 1,000 of pool submersion incidents treated in US hospitals.
In that same year there were 287 or 1.4 deaths per 1,000 from
pool submersion deaths. The interesting fact that emerges
from the US figures is that over the period 2000 to 2005 the
number of Emergency Dept. treated submersion injuries to children
under 5 dropped by a third from 3,300 to 2,200 cases, or 17.1
cases per 1,000 to 11.4 per 1,000. On the other hand, deaths
from drowning in this category remained pretty much the same,
increasing slightly by some 4%.
What this clearly tells us that legislation and information
campaigns requiring pools to be adequately fenced, effective
emergency treatmdent and other preventative measures can dramatically
cut the incidence of such tragic events and save lives.
For tragic such deaths truly are. We are not talking negligence
here. The death of a child through negligence has a particular
and terrible sadness all of its own. The death in this way,
of child that is loved and well cared-for brings a torment
to the parents of a different kind. So many what ifs, ways
to punish and torture one’s self. And yet tragedy can
strike in an instant, any time, anywhere and in a thousand
different and unforeseen ways. What parent can honestly say
they have never ever left their toddler unattended, even for
a moment? If you have, be it for the briefest moment, you
are among the fortunate majority who remain untested in this
heart wrenching way and can count yourselves lucky.
I should have gone and looked. Yes, but nobody does, not all
the time.
We should have put in a pool fence. Yes, but your own children
are grown, you didn’t need it.
What about all those infants on motorbikes on the by-pass
here in Bali?
Do you imagine for one second their parents don’t love
them and would not be utterly devastated were anything to
happen to them? I have no idea how many children in Bali on
motorbikes are killed or injured in road accidents. Whatever
the number, it’s too many. Clearly there should be regulation
and education to control and prevent it happening. But culturally
and economically any such legislation is premature and unacceptable.
Not putting in a pool fence or riding a motor bike with your
entire family aboard is not grounds for censure but it is,
to whatever degree, a failure of imagination, and we’re
all guilty of that, at some time, in one way or another.
If the incidence of children nearly drowning in pools is falling
in America, Australia and elsewhere, despite more wealth,
more home ownership and more swimming pools, we have regulation
and safety measures to thank.
What then of Bali?
No regulation here or likely to be.
Does it happen here?
Yes it does. A friend with teenage children of her own tells
me that she is aware of at least 4 cases of young children
drowning in swimming pools in as many years. Whatever the
actual number is, given the small numbers of the expat community
and the almost total presence of homes with swimming pools
it’s a fair guess that the ratio of young children drowning
is considerably greater than it is in Australia or the US.
It’s certainly something to consider, even more seriously
than we already do.
There are many ways to prevent children from drowning in swimming
pools, none of them can ever be 100% effective. Putting in
automatic pool covers and alarm systems are probably not practical
options here in Bali. That leaves supervision and pool fences.
Some steps are obvious, if not non-negotiable.
- Every one with children under six should put a fence all
around their pool.
- When your children are swimming someone should be watching
all the time.
- On social occasions adults should take it in turns to supervise
full time.
- Do not delegate such things to paid staff unless you have
trained them and know them to be responsible.
- Learn or have present someone who knows cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR).
According to the CSPC up 50% to 90% of all children’s
pool drownings and near-drownings could be prevented by the
installation of pool fencing. Adopting the measures itemised
above would make that a lot nearer 90%.
To say the least, aesthetics is a very poor, reason for not
putting up a pool fence.
Design your own and have it made. Doesn’t have to be
a ready-made commercial eyesore. If you are an adult household
no one expects you to put one in, but it is a simple matter
to ensure supervision when children visit and use your pool.
Finally, let us enlist those various companies and consultancies
who make a pretty living out of building, designing and maintaining
our swimming pools. It shouldn’t be a hard thing to
have them help us out here with a bit of effective and good
looking fencing I’d have thought? Wouldn’t you?
Not only does it add to their corporate “caring”
credentials but is good for the bottom line. Some of them
may be aesthetically challenged but can we not leave it to
their commercial imagination at least?
For details of safe pool fencing & other safety suggestions
visit: www.cpsc.gov
or: www.safewaters.nsw.gov.au
