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As summer begins and school holidays approach, parents are being warned that this is the most dangerous time of year for drowning incidents, and tragedy can strike within moments.
“December and January are the highest risk months for children’s drowning, and one in three drowning incidents happen during the summer school holidays,” Dr Paul Holmes from Queensland Children’s Hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit said on Monday.
And Queensland Surf Life Savers urged people visiting beaches to know their own limitations and swim in patrolled areas if possible.
Experts have warned parents that school holidays remain the most dangerous time of year for drowning incidents.Credit: Edwina Pickles
Last year, 45 drowning victims were brought to Queensland Children’s Hospital.
“Half of those were from pools and two thirds were in children under the age of 5,” Holmes said. “This year we’ve had 43 – six of them have been admitted to the intensive care unit.
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“The only way to prevent this is supervision by an adult. Parents tell us that they only looked away for a moment and then tragedy has struck.”
Holmes told parents to stay within an arm’s length of young children, remain alert, and call triple-0 in an emergency. He also urged parents to undergo basic CPR training – adding that even children who survive drowning incidents can have serious injuries.
“Some children are very lucky and are absolutely fine,” he said. “And unfortunately some children are left with ongoing injuries secondary to the brain being starved of oxygen.”
He said a child can drown in a matter of seconds in any body of water – including bathtubs and showers – and it may happen without any sound or splashing.
“Children, particularly under 5, don’t struggle, they don’t call out, they don’t make noise, they just slip silently into the water,” he said.
“Older children who can’t swim can also drown in pools. They’re not any safer.”
‘If we can’t see you, we can’t save you’
Matt Thompson from Surf Life Saving Queensland joined the Childrens Hospital’s appeal, asking Queenslanders to swim between the flags at beaches, where they can be helped if needed.
There have been 500 rescues of children outside the flagged areas on our beaches, he said, which was four times as many as in the flagged areas.
“Most of our drownings are happening outside of patrolled times and outside of patrolled areas, and that goes for our rescues as well,” he said.
“Even swimming 100 metres down the beach away from a flagged area means that that extra layer of safety is not there.”
When surf lifesavers were not present, Thompson said people should “stop, take a look at conditions, remind yourselves of your own limitations … before you get into having a good day”.
“Be safe this summer, swim between the red yellow flags. If we can’t see you, we can’t save you.”
“One drowning is one too many … since mid-August we’ve already had 11 beach-related drownings. That’s more than we had this time last year, and it’s ahead of the five-year average.”
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