Children can drown fast and without warning, whether at the beach or in an inflatable backyard wading pool, Vancouver Island’s chief public health doctor warns.
“Drowning can happen quickly and silently,” said Dr. Richard Stanwick, Island Health chief medical officer of health.
“People just figure ‘Oh, they [the kids] are close by’ and they continue reading their book or playing on their mobile device, playing a game or catching up on social media,” said Stanwick.
“ ‘Close by’ isn’t good enough,” he said. “You have to maintain a visual observation at all times.”
Stanwick was speaking ahead of Safe Kids Week, which runs from Saturday to June 14. This year, its main focus is on drowning prevention with the theme “Safe Swimming, Safe Splashing, Safe Kids.”
Last year, Safe Kids Week took on children’s concussions.
Safe Kids Week 2014 kicks off Saturday at the Oak Bay Tea Party at Willows Beach with a dunk tank. Politicians, celebrities and doctors, Stanwick included, will be up for a splashing. Even willing moms and dads can volunteer for a dunking.
Any child who can answer a question on water safety correctly wins a free shot at the dunking.
Stanwick said he will be wearing a life jacket to demonstrate how seriously he takes the water-safety message.
Safe Kids Week was the creation of Parachute, a national charity dedicated to life-saving and accident prevention.
Louise Logan, Parachute president, will be at the Oak Bay event for the launch of Safe Swimming, Safe Splashing, Safe Kids. Similar events are taking place across Canada.
After vehicle accidents, drowning is the second leading cause of preventable death or injury in the country, Logan said by phone from Toronto.
“We all want our kids to grow up safe and that’s what we are all about at Parachute,” she said.
In the past 10 years, 570 children and teenagers have drowned in Canada. Ninety per cent of shallow-water drownings occurred when adult supervision was absent.
B.C. Coroners Service figures show 30 kids drowned in the province between 2006 and 2012, six of them on Vancouver Island.
Stanwick pointed out that drowning is not the only result of poor water safety. Lack of oxygen to the brain as a result of near drowning can cause devastating, disabling injuries.
Here are some quick tips from Parachute for Safe Swimming, Safe Splashing, Safe Kids:
Stay close. Keep kids within your sight and hearing. Maintain active adult supervision at all times.
Children under five and weak swimmers should always be within arm’s reach.
Maintain active supervision around all water — the ocean, lakes, rivers, wading pools, bird baths or goldfish ponds.
Life jackets are lifesavers.
Kids under five and weak swimmers should wear life jackets whenever they are near, in or on the water.
Proper fit is essential.
Fence it to prevent it.
Not such a concern in B.C. where backyard pools are less common than in Eastern Canada. Nevertheless, all pools must be kept physically out of bounds of all children with four-sided fences.
Learn how to swim.
Only three per cent of the children who drowned in Canada between 2001 and 2010 were identified as strong swimmers.
Nevertheless, no child under five has the physical strength or skills to master swimming on their own. Active adult supervision remains a must.
Be prepared.
Get trained in water skills, rescue, CPR and first aid.
“We want Canadians to be out there being active,” said Logan. “So we’re happy to see them swimming and boating.”
“But we want them doing all these great things.” she said. ‘We just want to make sure they are safe while they are doing it.”