Prevent child drownings at home with the On Duty Swimming Monitor badge

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Dear Pool Owners and Parents

Parents never think it will happen to them - that their child could drown right in front of them yet so many heartbreaking stories in the media prove that it can and does happen. However, most drownings are preventable as long as you follow recommended pool safety guidelines and have layers of safety in place. The layers need to be a combination of a) a solid safety cover or a device to restrict all access to the water, b) adult supervision and c) other layers like first aid / CPR skills and teaching swimming skills. The more layers, the less chance of a fatal drowning.

GET YOUR ON DUTY SWIMMING MONITOR TAG BELOW!

A couple of years ago, PowerPlastics Pool Covers gave away a red and yellow safety hat with every pool cover to acknowledge that the adult wearing it was the one who was supervising children around the pool. It was a case of ‘pass the hat’ - as soon as one came off duty, the hat was passed to the next adult watching the pool. This was a proven concept but not accessible for all. Recently, this same concept of identifying the pool's supervising adult came up in discussion with the NSRI. A print-at-home tag for the adult to wear was suggested and is now available. Below you will find the ON DUTY Swimming Monitor badge. So this is now a method of 'pass the tag', ensuring there is an easily identifiable adult around the pool at all times.

In South Africa, fatal drowning is the fifth leading cause of unintentional death with 1411 deaths recorded in 2015 (Statistics SA 2017).

With us staying at home more at the moment as we adhere to lockdown rules, remember that this is also peak season for water related accidents at home. As such, we cannot emphasize enough the need to always have three or more layers of safety in place and for all in the home to know what a drowning in progress looks like. Please use this newsletter well and share it widely. It includes all the resources you need to prevent drowning accidents in your pool.

Carolyn Idas

Operations Manager

info@powerplastics.co.za

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Adult supervision - the basis for the Swimming Monitor system

From the outset, the adult responsible for supervising children in a pool must understand that a drowning child cannot call out for help, and therefore he/she must have eyes on the pool at all times. By wearing a bright, easily identifiable tag, children are able to alert the adult quickly if anyone is in trouble, bearing in mind that in these situations every second has an impact on the outcome.

As the adult takes up the supervisor role, the children must be made aware of this person's role. The supervisor should never be distracted by phones and chats with other adults, and it is recommended that adults don't do more than 30-minute shifts as concentration can lapse. Draw up a roster as needed and be sure that the children also know when the supervisor is changing.

Add more supervisors for crowded or high traffic pools

When there's a larger number of children in the pool, e.g at pool parties, it is advisable to have two or more supervisors each wearing a tag. A busy pool is high risk.

A CPR tool

The printed tag also includes the vital CPR steps in the case of a drowning.

How to print your ON DUTY Swimming Monitor tag

Print out the yellow tag below and trim on the red outline. You can right click on it to copy and paste onto a blank page or download it on our website, already sized on an A4 page. The recommended size is around 14cm x 9,5 cm. Laminate it if possible (to prevent water damage) and then add a lanyard or tie it on a loop of string and wear around the neck.

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Download the tag from our website: click here

Useful: drowning prevention resources

Do you know what a drowning in progress looks like? Do you know what is myth and what is fact?

TopStep, the home of pool safety, is a free resource that every parent and pool owner should have bookmarked and printed on the fridge. Please use this educational website to keep your and others' children safe.

The Western Cape Strategic Framework for Drowning Prevention and Water Safety has been developed to support the prioritisation of programmes that will help prevent drowning and promote water safety in the Western Cape. The Framework is a strategic endeavor to change key environmental, social and behavioral factors that contribute to the causation of drowning. Learn more here.

IN THE NEWS - Summer safety

Over the holidays, NSRI unpacked the ON DUTY Swimming Monitor identification campaign during an interview on eNCA. Watch the video below.

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The most trusted solid safety cover

This PowerPlastics Solid Safety Cover was the original solid safety cover, conceptualized by PowerPlastics Pool Covers. The fact that so many others have gone on to copy the design is testament to just how effective it is in preventing drownings of children and pets.

To summarise, a quick reminder why this is still the leading solid safety cover: