Constant vigilance of children, teens near water important to prevent drownings

Constant vigilance of children, teens near water important to prevent drownings. Hot temperature, lack of skills and people who aren't paying attention reasons why people drown. Stock Photo

While many people are surprised at the amount of water-related deaths in such a short time, Denyse Boxell, project leader for Safe Kids Canada, said we really shouldn't be.

"We've had a lot of hot weather so there are obviously more people looking to cool off, so it is related to the time of year in Canada," she said, adding the weather being consistently hot can explain why the deaths are so close together.

More importantly, about 60 children drown each year in Canada and another 140 nearly drown, so the numbers are not unusual.

Safe Kids Canada was created in 1992 by David Wesson, a former surgeon at the Hospital for Sick Children. He wanted to shed light on unintentional and preventable deaths and accidents that children were involved in, with the goal of fewer injuries and a safer environment for children.

Calculated by the types and numbers of injuries the hospital treats, Boxell said car accidents are the No. 1 cause of injury and death, drowning is second and pedestrian accidents are third.

"Unfortunately, drowning is still the second leading cause of unintentional death in Canada for kids under 14, so it is an issue," Boxell said.

Boxell said many reasons contribute to the high numbers, including parents not knowing how to swim so they can't pass the skill along to their children and because of their inability to swim, they cannot provide adequate supervision for children or know what to do if help is needed.

As well, parents may not be able to afford swimming lessons for their children.

It used to be swimming lessons were given to elementary school students, but Boxell said due to budget cuts that program was axed by the Ministry of Education some time ago.

She said the Red Cross has a Swim at School program offering to assist schools in offsetting some of the costs such as bussing to and from the pools, but for many schools partial funding isn't enough. Even if schools already have pools, many are not in use because they don't have the money to keep them open.

This means it's entirely up to parents to make sure their children learn how to swim and know about water safety.

Another factor is many new Canadians come from countries where swimming isn't a cultural pastime. This translates into potential danger when they move to Canada.

"The Lifesaving Society did an opinion poll with Canadians and new Canadians to see what their attitudes were about the water as well as to see what their level of swimming was. What they found was that one in four new Canadians don't have any swimming skills," she said.

And while that fact is dangerous for reasons such as not being able to properly supervise children around water, Boxell said accidents happen when people know how to swim because having skills is one thing, implementing them responsibly is another.

"When we look at the drowning data, for example, the number of people who drown while boating, 59 per cent of those people were actually able to swim so being able to swim isn't the cure-all," she said.

Swimming skills, she said, aren't effective against strong currents or if you bump your head, so it's about being respectful, responsible and aware of the dangers around water whether that is a bathtub, pool, lake or pond. Constant supervision is crucial.

"Ninety per cent of the kids who drowned were alone at the time they drowned so they were never expected to be in or near the water," she said.

This could include not just a visit to the lake or pool, but a neighbourhood pool, even if you're visiting a friend with a pool and not swimming.

"You need to make sure someone who knows how to swim is in charge of watching the kids and the parents are not just socializing with the other parents," she said. "People need to be in sight and within reach of their child at all times around water so they can prevent that child from falling in or be able to pull them out."

Kids under the age of five are especially at risk of drowning, Boxell said, because they're attracted to water without understanding the dangers of it.

Parents have to remember just because a child can run doesn't mean she can swim. As well, children's lungs are smaller, fill with water more quickly and can drown in as little as one inch of water in as little as 20 seconds.

"Parents need to understand it happens very quickly and it happens silently. It's not like the movies where you hear someone screaming for help because if you can't breathe you can't scream for help. It happens silently," Boxell said.

So when should you first expose your kids to water?

Boxell said children as young as six months can participate in parent and tot classes, however, learning actual water skills doesn't start until children are school age.

Boxell stressed drowning prevention isn't just an issue for kids. Teens also are at risk around water. Besides the usual horseplay, teens overestimate their own skills and underestimate dangers such as the depths of the water or the strength of the current.

Parents are often less vigilant with teens and think it's enough to leave them to look after each other.

Boxell said teens supervising other teens is never a good idea.

"Putting younger children or even teens of the same age in the care of each other is very dangerous because they don't understand the responsibility that's been placed on them nor do they have the skills to help if needed," she said.

Because swimming skills aren't enough, Boxell said Safe Kids Canada suggests life-jackets when children are in, on or around water. Life-jackets are not just for riding in boats, she said.

If you have a pool you should have at least four-foot high fencing around the perimeter of the pool, not just the three sides the law requires, as well as learn water safety skills and CPR, which can be a key if someone goes under.

"Any time you go without oxygen to the brain you are going to suffer brain damage and some kids suffer permanent brain damage from a near drowning and that can range from something relatively mild to memory loss or really severe and disabling," she said.

Boxell said swimming and other water activities are a fun and healthy way to spend time on hot summer days, but these things can turn deadly quickly if the proper water safety precautions aren't taken.