With spring bringing warmer weather, Royal Life Saving — Australia is asking all owners of backyard pools to check their pool fences and pool gates as a matter of urgency.
Children under five are curious and fearless, and their love of water puts them at risk of drowning.
Tragically, every year in Australia we lose on average 20 young children to drowning, with half of all drowning deaths in young children occurring in backyard swimming pools.
The majority are aged just one year old. This is because the risk of drowning triples at the age of one year, when children become more mobile.
We know that eight times the number of children who die go to hospital after a non-fatal drowning incident. That is more than 150 children aged under five each year, some of whom will be left with life-limiting disabilities.
While active supervision is the best protection against childhood drowning, no parent or caregiver can watch a young child 24 hours a day.
Ensure that you have a functioning and compliant pool fence and working gate as an additional barrier between young children and water for all those moments when life intervenes — the phone rings, the doorbell rings, another child needs your attention — can literally be life saving.
You can download a free home pool safety checklist here: https://www.royallifesaving.com.au/keepwatch
Wet weather conditions can wash away topsoil and weaken fences. Check no fence posts have come loose from the ground. Make sure the gate is still self-closing and self-latching and is never left propped open.
Pack pool toys away so they are not an overwhelming temptation, and empty portable pools when not in use. It is also a good time to brush up on CPR skills ahead of summer.
By spending a bit of time checking the pool fence, pool gate and the area around the pool is secure, including no furniture or structures that little people can climb to access the pool, you could prevent a tragedy.
Keep Watch and protect the littlest members of your family.
Justin Scarr,
Royal Life Saving Society — Australia chief executive