Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

Learning outcomes
• Increased awareness of the prevalence of water
injuries to children.
• Increased ability to identify risk factors for
drowning episodes (across different age groups).
• Increased ability to identify other risk factors that
influence the occurrence of a drowning episode.
• Practical strategies that will protect children in and
around water.

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

 What is drowning?
Drowning is a process where breathing is impaired by
immersion in water (either the face or the whole body)
and a loss of consciousness occurs. (WHO 2002)

There are two outcomes of drowning:

• Fatal drowning (death)
• Non-fatal drowning (survival)
 Drowning is avoidable

168 17
The average number of The average number of
child drowning episodes Queensland children who
across Queensland every fatally drown every year, on
year. average.
Belinda Wallis et al ‘Where children and adolescents drown in Queensland: A population based study’ BMJ Open 2015:5

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

 1:10 fatal to non-fatal ratio
A moments distraction can lead to a
Non-fatal drowning can lifetime of regret.
result in:
• Coma
• Organ damage
• Permanent disability
• Brain death
• Neurological injury.

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services
 Activity 1
With each statement:
Go to right side of room if you think that the statement is true
or the left side of the room if you think that the statement is false.
1. Drowning is usually not silent – the person is splashing, struggling and/or
screaming and thus can be heard.
2. 9 out of 10 children who have drowned have been supervised.
3. Almost half of all child drowning deaths occur in rural and remote areas.
4. Inflatable pools don’t pose the same drowning hazards.
5. Approximately 10,000 Australian children leave primary school each year
without sufficient skills to survive in water.

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

 Real Life Story
Portable Pool Drowning Death

A two year old girl fatally drowned in a portable pool in the

backyard of her house. The girl found her way back into the
wading pool after playing in it earlier in the day. Her death
follows three similar incidents over the summer.

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

 Queensland facts
Almost 50% of all fatal drowning’s Two thirds of all child
occurred in rural and remote drowning episodes occurred in
areas, despite rural and remote the 0-4 age group AND more
areas comprising only 25% of than half of these were fatal.
Queensland’s population.

Two out of every three children who

drown are boys.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Home swimming pools are the

Islander children are at greater most common site for child
risk of drowning than other drowning's and most of the
children . 1 pools had fencing.
Reference: BA Wallis, et al. ‘Drowning in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Adolescents in Queensland’ BMC Public Health 2015.15

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

 Activity 2
Why do children drown?
 In small groups, read and discuss the handout ‘Factors that contribute to
children drowning’ and it’s three sections:

• Factors relating to parents and carers

• Factors relating to the child
• Factors relating to the aquatic environment

 The handout does not provide an exhaustive list of every

contributing factor.

 What additional factors can you identify, in any category?

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

 0 to 1 year olds

• This age group is more likely to drown in a bath tub.

• Buckets are the 2nd most common location for under one’s.

SOME ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE TO AVOID DROWNINGS

• Never take your eyes away from a child in the bath, not even for a
minute.
• Don’t leave an older child to supervise this age group in the bath.
• Once bath time is over, empty bath and put the plug out of a child’s
reach.
• Use a suction mat to prevent slipping.
 1 to 4 year olds

• Swimming pools are the most common location for drowning episodes
for this age group.

• Dams and other rural water hazards are the 2nd most common location.
SOME ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE TO AVOID DROWNINGS

• Being in the water with the infant or toddler is critical for this age group.
• Never ever prop open the pool gate.
• Teach the child to wait for your OK before getting into the water.
• Fence off a ‘safe play area’ on your rural property to prevent wandering.
• Enrol the child in a water familiarisation program.
• Keep the phone right beside you when children are in the water.
• Remove toys from in or around the pool when not in use – they will
attract young children back to the area.
 5 to 9 year olds
• Rural and remote locations sites were the most likely location for a
fatal drowning, such as dams etc.

• Swimming pools are the most common site for a non-fatal drowning.

SOME ACTIONS CAN YOU TAKE TO AVOID DROWNINGS

• Enforce clear rules around water – e.g. ban certain areas as play
areas.
• Always supervise – maintain arms length.
• Get information about the child’s water skills before placement.
• Ask if the child’s school provides water safety/skills classes - if not,
enrol the child in a water safety/skills program.
 10 to 18 year olds

• This age group is more likely to fatally drown in rural and remote locations
like rivers, creeks and weirs where water is moving or has a strong
current.

• Unpatrolled surf beaches are also a location of risk for this age group.
SOME ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE TO AVOID DROWNINGS

• Enforce clear rules around water – e.g. ban breath-holding contests

and other risk taking behaviours.
• Teach the young person how to read water conditions before
entering water – e.g. rips, undercurrents, objects in water etc.
• Get information about the child’s water skills before placement. If
 Real Life Story
Child 10 found face down in pool

Mystery surrounds the death of a 10 year old girl who

died after she was found face down in a backyard pool.
Her family insist she was a strong swimmer. She was in
the pool with her sister while her father was doing
housework before he was planning to join them for a
swim. She became the second Queensland drowning
victim in less than a week.

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

 Activity 3
Children’s safety in different water
environments
Group 1 Group 3
Group 2
Pool owners/users Other aquatic
Rural hazards
environments

1. In your assigned groups, read and discuss the topic material provided.

2. Identify the five to ten most important points/messages.

3. Creatively present your information to the larger group – to grab attention

and help everyone to remember.
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Review – what have we learned
so far?
The first 4 years of
life are the most
vulnerable for
The risk of drowning
drowning episodes.
increases with
increasing mobility
of the child.

There is a 1:10
ratio in
Queensland of
fatal drownings
(death) to non-fatal
drownings for
children.

There is no single cause to drowning

No single preventative solution

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

Layers of protection
It is important to build layers of
protection, as in the ‘Royal Life
Saving Keep Watch Program’:

1. Supervise
2. Restrict access
3. Water awareness
4. Resuscitate
Royal Life Saving 'Keep Watch'

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services
1. Supervise
Close

Constant

Focused

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

 Real Life Story
Girl drowns at a public pool

A drowning was reported at the public pool. An unconscious

toddler had been pulled from the pool and CPR was performed
by a family member.

About 70 people were at the pool at the time. The girl had been
at a party at the pool with her family. Attempts to revive her
were unsuccessful and she died later in hospital.

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

 2. Restrict access

Provides a physical separation of the

From November 2015 all pool fences and barriers child to restrict access to dams, creeks,
must comply with current pool safety laws - Includes water troughs, irrigation channels etc.
spas & portable pools of 300mm or more of water.

Have a child safe fence and self-

Remove all climbable objects from fence latching gates near the home.
perimeter (including shrubs).

Replace, tighten and adjust gate It is not a legislative obligation.

hinges – fence and gate
maintenance is critical.

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

 Real Life Story
Boy Drowns in Farm Dam

A family was left grieving after their toddler son drowned in a dam on
their family farm. The couple’s only son drowned when he wandered off
from the main house and walked a kilometre to get to the dam. The
father found his son 2 hours later in the dam and dragged him to shore
before starting CPR.

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

 3. Water awareness
Water awareness is an important life skill for all Queensland children and includes:
Knowing the child’s survival skills and
YOU setting rules that capability in water such as floating, Both you and the older child
promote water safety….. treading water and swim survival being able to recognise and avoid
strokes……. danger in and around water.

Water
Older non-swimmers: awareness can
requires urgent formal Babies and toddlers:
and informal include a range using bath time to
opportunities to learn of strategies familiarise child with
both water awareness water.
and water skills.

Pre-schoolers: having fun

in the water with the child,
and considering
enrolment in a water
familiarisation program.
 ACTIVITY 4
WATER SURVIVAL, SAFETY AND RESCUE SKILLS

 In pairs, read the lists of skills and statements.

 Match each statement to the correct skill.

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services
 4. Resuscitate
Have the knowledge and ability to rescue a child without risking your life.

• Have an emergency action plan.

• When supervising an aquatic
• Many children are alive today activity, have a phone beside you.
because their parents or carers
• If a child’s whereabouts is
knew how to perform Cardio-
unknown, search all water hazards
Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).
first.
• A CPR chart must be located in
• Learning CPR may be critical for
the pool area.
rural communities when
• In a drowning situation, any CPR ambulatory services are further
action is better than no action. away.

• Accreditation at a CPR course • Teach children how to contact

takes only 4 hours. emergency services.

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

 REAL LIFE STORY
Child drowns in esky

A 2 year old drowned in an esky at a family celebration.

The ice in the esky had melted and after dropping a toy
into the esky, the 2 year old tried to retrieve it, but fell in
and was unable to get out. As a result, the child was
trapped, and drowned in just a small amount of water.

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

Review – what have we just
learned?
Drowning is
preventable and is
most effective
when strategies
are multi-layered. If one line of
The Royal Life defence fails there
Saving Keep are more
Watch Program - 4 prevention
layers of practical measures working
strategies. together to
prevent a child
drowning.

Having knowledge
1. Supervise 2. and awareness
Restrict access 3. can help you
Water awareness rescue a child
4. Resuscitate. without risking
your own life.

Stay Close,
Constant and
Focused.
 The department, the Foster and Kinship
care agency and YOU
We all share responsibility for children’s safety when in, on or around water.

All CSOs and FKC support workers have completed a session like this on water safety
– for CSOs it is mandatory.

The CSO will gather information about a child’s swimming ability, and consider risks
and the water supervision required, and provide this information to you. If not, ask
for it.

The FKC support worker will also gather information from previous carers or FKC
agencies through the ‘Conclusion of Placement’ as this includes information about
the child’s current level of swimming ability.

If a child has limited experience in water, then consider their enrolment in a water
familiarisation or swim program.

If you have a pool or other water hazard at or near your premises, then discuss a strategy to
manage this during the Placement Agreement.
 In Australia, we live near, and have good
opportunities for water recreation.

 We play in and around water from a young age.

 While most of us learn to swim, this may not be the

case for children who are in care.

 Learning to swim involves more than competitive

strokes.