MEDIA RELEASE
Sunday 8 January 2011
KEY POINTS
- Child near drownings running at one per day
- up to 8 children hospitalised for every drowning death
- Call for parents to check pool fencing
- Call for parents to learn CPR
- Call for government action on pool fencing /pool safety legislation
Latest Incident brings total to one per day
The near drowning that has left a nine year old boy from North Rocks in a critical
condition just after 11 am today means that child near drownings have occurred at
the rate of one per day this week.
Statistics on near drowning rates
This spate of incidents has reinforced the fact that for every child that dies as a
result of drowning, in NSW up to another eight children are being admitted to
hospital after near drowning incidents and almost one quarter of those will be left
with a brain injury resulting in disabilities for life.
Call for parents to take action NOW
The Samuel Morris Foundation, Australia’s only charity supporting children disabled
by near drownings is urging parents to be vigilant with the supervision of children
around water and to pay attention to water safety measure such as pool fencing.
Foundation spokesperson Michael Morris said “we urge parents to immediately get out
in their yards and check that their pool fence is secure, that the gate self closes
from any open position, that any items that could be used by a child to climb a
fence are moved away from the fence and secured and that there are no pool toys
left in the pool area to attract children. Parents can visit
www.samuelmorrisfoundation.org.auto access water safety tips and resources.
“we are also urging all parents to learn cpr as many of the incidents this week have
highlighted the importance of having someone with these skills on site immediately,
it really can be the difference between life and death”
Call for Government to take action to meet committments
The Foundation is also renewing it’s calls for the NSW Government to immediately
implement changes to Pool Safety Legislation in NSW. A range of options are
available to the NSW Government that have been proven to reduce the number of
toddler drownings and near drownings and to improve compliance with safety
standards.
Michael Morris also said “The NSW Government has committed to the National
Principles for Water Safety agreed to as part of the COAG processes and we welcome this committment.
For far too long every NSW Governments response to calls for changes to pool fencing legislation
has been to say that “the situation is under review. Such a response is no longer
acceptable, it is time for ACTION as every week that change is delayed is another
week in which NSW children will die or be disabled as a result of drowning related
accidents in NSW.”
For interviews regarding the impact of near drownings, water safety tips and
commentary in the current state of pool safety in NSW, please call Michael Morris on
0404 552 429.
Scope of the Problem in NSW
In NSW, an average of 6.75 drowning deaths and an average of 24.91 hospital admissions occurred per year between 2007/08 to 2009/10 among children 0-4 years as a result of near drownings in swimming pools. This equates to 4-5 children being hospitalised for every child death in this age group, however in the last year the Sydney Childrens Hospital network has seen the highest number of near drownings on record.
(this figure is based on the assumption in the report that the drowning deaths are included in the hospitalisations, although this assumption is NOT clearly spelled out in the literature or data, and given that there is evidence that a significant number of drowning fatalities never actually make it a hospital, but are pronounced dead at the scene of the drowning, if they are excluded from this data then the ratio of drowning deaths to hospital admissions is significantly higher).
Of the average of 24.91 admissions per year, evidence from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) suggests that approximately 22.3% (5.56 children annually, and increasing, in NSW) will experience permanent brain damage.
