According to the WHO, drowning is defined as “ the process of suffering respiratory difficulties due to submersion/immersion in a liquid , with results that can be classified as: death, morbidity and no morbidity. In 2019, 236,000 people died from drowning, making it a serious public health problem worldwide .”
The WHO World Report on Drowning states that 90% of unintentional drowning deaths are concentrated in low- and middle-income countries. For example, drowning in Bangladesh currently accounts for 43% of deaths among children aged 1-4 years.
In Spain, 30 children die each year due to drowning , four out of five, were not supervised. And as of today, we have the terrible figure of 11 drowned children, and we are only in June…
The season for the beach, swimming pools, rivers and swamps is here. So, with these statistics, the only thing we can do is PREVENT . Let’s see 7 tips to prevent child drowning.
1.- Constant and permanent supervision
A baby can drown even in a 6-inch-high inflatable pool, or in a bathtub. According to the National Association for Child Safety: ” just 6 cm (and even less) of water covers your baby’s entire face and can cause infant drowning.”
Any carelessness of the caregiver when going to answer the phone or open the door can be fatal. The supervision of children must be constant and permanent . The 10/20 rule must be followed: look at the child every ten seconds, be able to reach him in less than 20 seconds. In children under 5 years of age there is another rule that we must comply with: we must have access to them just by stretching our arms.
If there are small children, the pool should be mobile-free. But also free of talks and reading. But summer is to enjoy, so it is recommended to assign surveillance to an adult (never a child or older brother) so that everyone can enjoy a while. Do not assume that another is watching , agree shifts where only one is responsible. oh! And be careful with the consumption of alcohol or drugs: they can cause a relaxation in the vigilance of the little ones.
We will always have a basic rescue kit on hand. A pole, a life preserver and a telephone are the rescue devices that can save us from many scares.
How long does it take for a drowned child to die?
According to Pilar Naval, co-creator of the initiative OJO Peque al Agua and the hashtag #OjoPequeAlAgua: “There is no exact time when a child drowns, it depends on many factors, age, lung capacity… everything case less than a minute is enough to have a serious accident”.
How do I know if my child is drowning?
On many occasions you cannot shout or splash, our body goes into survival mode and its only objective is to breathe. In fact, drowning is called the silent death , which is why it occurs in environments where there are many people, but nobody knows about it.
According to the Institut Balear D’Emergències, some of the signs to know if someone is drowning are: the head remains under water or is thrown back keeping the mouth open, which remains at surface level. Sometimes, we cannot see the face because the hair falls on it and on the eyes, and they do not remove the hair. They may have their eyes closed, or glassy with a lost gaze. They try to swim, but do not advance, or maintain a completely vertical position.
2.- Place a fence in the pool
Approximately 75% of child drownings in private pools could have been prevented with a fence that went around all four sides and completely separated the pool from the house and garden. Of course, the WHO warns: “The use of barriers should not replace the care or attention of a trained adult supervisor or expose the child to the risk of being trapped.”
What is recommended is to place a fence between 1.20 and 1.50 m high, which will be effective for children up to 6 years old and that is not climbable, with gates with safety locks that completely surround it.
If we are unable to install a fence, devices called immersion alarms can be purchased. Or perimeter alarms can also be used to notify us if they have crossed the certain security zone. All these electronic devices do not replace our vigilance since they can fail at any time.
3.- No float or sleeve protects against drowning
From the Ojo Peque al Agua initiative they are clear about this: “No float, sleeve, churro or similar protects against drowning. They are flotation systems, not safety systems .” We can verify this because they all include a legend that says: ” It does not protect against drowning.
Any type of inflatable should only be used under constant supervision. “ Cuffs slip or don’t fit, floats flip over leaving kids submerged unable to turn around and deflate.”
From Ojo Peque al Agua they recommend the vest because “it allows us not to hold the child in our arms all the time since it keeps him with his head out of the water and leaves his arms and legs free to move.” Vests must always have the CE Marking and be the right size for each child.
Regarding inflatable toys , they must be removed and collected from all pools and thus prevent children from submerging by going to play with them at times when we are out of bathing time.
And to finish with inflatable objects, a very important piece of advice: at the end of bath time it is recommended to empty small inflatable pools of water , turn them over and keep them out of the reach of children.
4.- Suction and drain cover
They can also be deadly. Long loose hair, the use of chains, loose swimwear, ropes or other items that can be sucked in should be avoided. We must educate children not to go near these devices in the pool.
All adults should know the location of the pool’s electrical shutoff and know how to turn it off quickly in the event of entrapment.
5.- Not only do you have to be careful in the pool
When the heat “squeezes”, any mass of water that cools us is good for us. For this reason, in certain areas, in addition to beaches, swimming pools and water parks, rivers, ponds, natural pools and swamps come into play.
In the guide for families called ” Enjoy the water and avoid risks “, edited by the Red Cross and the Ministry of Health, Social Policy and Equality, there are 3 key points of prevention in this type of environment:
- Avoid bathing in rivers, lakes or swamps that you do not know because, even if they seem calm, there may be internal currents, algae and other aquatic plants.
- Avoid bathing in large rivers, in natural pools or under waterfalls. It is risky, because there may be currents or eddies that drag you.
- On beaches, lakes and rivers where we do not know the depth, do not dive headfirst. We can die from a head injury or be left with a permanent spinal cord injury.
Regarding the beaches, it is essential to teach our sons and daughters to know the colors of the flags . With a red flag, swimming is strictly prohibited. And with a yellow flag, the safest thing is that the water does not exceed the hip and we must explain to them that they do not go into the water.
6.- Educate in prevention
There is a relationship between receiving swimming lessons and a decrease in drowning. So children should be taught to float, swim and be safe. Ideally, this training should be carried out by accredited instructors.
Pilar Naval from Ojo Peque al Agua affirms: “If we also educate in prevention, we ensure that adolescents who are aware of the risks avoid reckless behavior.” Avoiding all kinds of accidents is important, not just drowning.
For example, running along the edge of the pool is not the most correct thing to do . Teach your children to respect the safety rules in swimming pools, water parks and open water. Be careful with glass cups , if they break they can cut your feet. And if any fall into the pool, it should be completely emptied until it is confirmed with complete certainty that they have all been removed, with the consequent waste of water that this entails.
7.- Lifeguards are not babysitters or policemen
The supervision of minors is the responsibility of the father, mother or guardian, not the lifeguard. It would be interesting to tell the children what they are doing and where they are and indicate that they must follow your instructions. It is advisable to go to swimming pools and beaches where lifeguards are present , avoiding those where they are not.
What should I do in the event of a child drowning?
If even complying with all these measures, the fatal accident occurs, we must remove the child from the water, ask for help, and call 112 . We also need to start CPR alternating 30 core chest compressions with 2 breaths (mouth-to-mouth resuscitation) until EMS arrive.
Bibliography
Astorga Vergara MA. (2011). Enjoy the water and avoid the risks: a guide for families. Ministry of Health, Social Policy and Equality: Spanish Red Cross. Available at: https://estilosdevidasaludable.sanidad.gob.es/seguridad/pdf/FOLLETO_Guia_familias.pdf
IBE group. (2019) What are the signs to take into account to avoid drowning? [Internet]. Available at: https://grupoibe.com/evitar-ahogamiento/
Naval P. (2019). Prevention of childhood drowning [Internet]. OjoPequeAlAgua – Child drowning prevention. Available at: https://ojopequealagua.com/
WHO. (2016). World report on drowning: preventing a major cause of death. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/251498
WHO. (2017). Preventing drowning: a practical guide. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/259488 .
