Drowning prevention tips
Life-saving advice to help keep your family safe near water.
Playing in, on or around water is lots of fun for children, but it can also present danger. Drowning is among the 10 leading causes of death for people aged 1-24, and children under 5 years are at the greatest risk. Follow these expert tips to help keep your family safe.
6 ways to prevent drowning
1. Get trained in CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and basic water rescue skills
Parents and community members should learn how to respond in an emergency without putting themselves at risk. Check with your local emergency first responders, lifeguards and swimming clubs or associations, which often offer this kind of training.
2. Keep watch over your children
Don’t rely on other adults or children nearby to keep an eye on children playing in, on or around the water. Being attentive and watching what your little one is doing is one of the best ways to keep them safe. Do not be distracted by your mobile phone or conversation with another person. Be at arm’s reach when a child is in the water. If you lose sight of your child, call for help immediately.
3. Install barriers controlling access to water
If you have a pool, pond, or any other body of water around your home, install a fence around it to prevent children from wandering in unsupervised. Other sources of water such as wells, water containers and cisterns should also be covered to prevent an unintentional fall. Empty buckets, containers and portable pools after use and keep toilet lids, and doors to bath and laundry rooms closed when not in use. If you live in a community with a public water space, speak to your local authorities about having a fence put up to keep everyone safe.
4. Provide safe places away from water
Community daycare centres help to keep pre-school children engaged (and having fun!) while safely away from the water. Check in your local community to learn about what options are available for your child.
5. Teach children swimming and water safety skills
One of the best ways to prevent drowning in school-age children (aged over 6 years) is to make sure they know how to swim. Schools, emergency first responders, lifeguards and swimming clubs or associations often provide swim lessons for children.
6. Have everything you need for bath time
Before placing a young child in the tub have all items at hand so you do not leave the child unsupervised in the water. Empty the tub after use.
Did you know?
A toddler or child can drown in 5 cm of water. Every exposed water source, no matter how shallow, poses a significant danger.
What to do if you see someone drowning
Before you try to perform a rescue, learn the signs of drowning
A person or child in trouble may be splashing and waving their arms, but that is not always what drowning looks like. Someone who is drowning may be trying to swim but not making any forward progress, pressing their arms up and down at their sides trying to keep their head above water or trying other ways to stay afloat.
- Keep a mobile phone nearby. If available, parents and caregivers should keep a phone near the water in case of an emergency. Memorize and write down the numbers for your local emergency services.
- Find help. Remember, someone who is drowning cannot call for help. If you see drowning, call for help right away. Notify a lifeguard if there is one close by. If not, ask someone to call for an emergency first responder.
Did you know?
Young children can drown silently in as little as 25 seconds. Therefore, supervision of children in and around the water needs to be close, constant and attentive.
How to rescue a drowning person
Remember: “throw, don’t go.” The only person who should go in the water to rescue someone drowning is a lifeguard or other emergency first responder. Going in the water to help someone in trouble could put yourself in danger of drowning. To assist someone in trouble, it is best to stay out of the water yourself. Here is how to safely perform a rescue:
- Steady yourself and use an object to increase your reach, such as a tree branch, a pole or another long object.
- Extend the object to the person in trouble and slowly pull them to safety. To avoid being pulled into the water yourself, keep your body low and lean back.
- If the person in trouble is out of your reach, throw something to them that floats, such as a life jacket or another floating object like a ball or even a cooler.
- Seek out a professional. After the person at risk of drowning is safely out of the water, check the ABCs (airway, breathing and circulation) and have someone call for an emergency first responder.
