Water safety.
Regular Bali Advertiser readers may recall the article that was published just before the December holidays when I recounted the story of a young Indonesian girl who drowned in a swimming pool in Adelaide over the previous Christmas holidays. Tragically this year history did repeat in a 3 fold tragedy in NSW where a Sri Lankan family had gone for an outing only to end in a senseless tragedy. A 12 year old girl fell into a still water hole and in an attempt to save her, her 17 year old sister jumped in as did her father and her uncle. The only thing that they had forgotten to take into account was that none of them had the slightest idea how to swim! At the end of the saga all drowned except for the 17 year old girl who was pulled from the water by a passer by. His attempts to rescue and revive the other 3 family members failed.
If this was not a true story it would almost be funny. Almost like some tragic pumpkin pull, the difference being in this version of the story is that all but one dies. Once again, and as no coincidence I feel, the victims are Asians. No prejudice intended here, but water safety and ability is not a strong point among eastern nations. This brings to mind another “funny” story told by a diver friend who frequently encounters Japanese and Korean tourists ready to go for “The Deep” in all but the best gear, but once again, the ability to actually swim was an after thought!...after all you don’t need to know how to stay on the surface when the aim is to go under do you? It seems that in many parts of the world the “water wise” evolution is just happening a bit slower than it has in other more developed parts of the world. Remember the dark ages of Europe? In those days if you could stay on the surface of the water or swim you were definitely a witch, and subsequently got burned at the stake. If you could not swim you drowned, so either way you were doomed to die! It seems that over time the witches won out as these days water awareness is commonplace, and most schools and responsible parents will teach their young ones to swim, almost as soon as they can walk. Having said this, even in Australia, drowning is still the number one cause of death in children and babies, so we still have a long way to go.
Swimming is one thing, but let’s go back to the NSW tragedy. These were not raging waters or rip tides that drag you along and under, but just a still water hole. How did 3 people manage to die here? It’s almost unfathomable, until you consider that not only were the would be rescuers challenged by the fact that they themselves were poor swimmers, but also had one or two terrified souls clutching at them for anything that they could to survive. Ask yourself this. If you can swim all well and good, but how would you go with even one person trying desperately to stand on your shoulders with absolutely no consideration for you or your need to take the occasional breath? Panic is a terrible thing and brings out the “id” in even the most caring person…. “ME, ME, ME!”
So to avoid you or your family making tragic headlines through drowning please, please, please earn to swim, teach your children to swim, and teach your house staff to swim as well! Once you can swim you might like to learn how to assist a drowning person, and how to resuscitate them. Further tips to prevent a drowning in the first place would be:
Whenever you are in, on or around the water,
remember to:
- Always swim with another person.
- If you see someone in trouble in the water, get help quickly.
- If possible throw a floating device or try to reach the person with a branch or towel so as you can pull them out.
- If you are in trouble in the water:
- Stay calm.
- Float on your back.
- Wave one arm for help.
At Home remember to:
- Shut the pool gate (just because we don’t have a pool fence regulation in Bali does not mean you should not have one!).
- Always enter the water safely.
- Don’t push people into the pool.
- Don’t leave toys in the pool, they attract young children.
- Empty all buckets, and paddle pools after playing.
At the Swimming Pool remember to:
- Obey signs giving advice to swimmers.
- Listen to the pool lifeguards.
- Stay away from the deep end, unless you can swim well.
- Check for swimmers before jumping in.
- Do not run around the pool edge.
At the Beach remember to:
- Swim between the red & yellow flags.
- Swim with another person.
- If the sea is too rough don’t go in.
- Listen to lifeguards.
- Obey all signs.
At a River or Lake remember to:
- Beware of slippery banks.
- Check the water before entering.
- Check that it’s safe before diving.
- Beware of boats.
- Read and obey signs.
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Kim Patra is a qualified Registered Nurse and Midwife that has been living and working in Bali for almost twenty years. She now runs her own private practice and medical referral service from her Kuta office. Kim is happy to discuss any health concerns with you and she may be contacted via e-mail at info@chcbali.com”.
