ALARMING figures have shown that 330 children under the age of five have drowned in the past five years, prompting the introduction of a new initiative, Keep Watch.
Keep Watch has been introduced by Royal Life Saving, in a bid to lower the amount of drowning related deaths in young children by ensuring all pools meet the required safety standards.
As part of the campaign, a free iPhone application has been designed called the Home Pool Safety App.
This app is specifically designed to try and take the hassle out of ensuring your pool is as safe as possible.
Royal Life Saving CEO Rob Bradley said the figures are deeply disturbing, and said it is worrying that 78 per cent of home pool drowning deaths are children aged 2-years or under.
Royal Life Saving said it is critical all home pool owners across Australia make sure their pool environment is safe for children throughout the hotter months, and for the year ahead.
The 2012 Home Pool Safety campaign has the full support of PoolWerx (who are partnering with Royal Life Saving in this initiative).
Swimming star and Keep Watch ambassador Samantha Riley said “vigilance is the key.”
“The current figures aren’t good enough, we have to do more,” she said.
“Supervision is much more than an occasional glance, we ask people everywhere to learn resuscitation, one day you may need this vital skill to save a life.”
The Pool Safety App can easily be downloaded through the App Store, and includes an extensive check list.
The check list covers everything from the swimming pool gate, pool fence, around the fence, supervision, emergency preparation, electricity, chemicals and more.
Using the checklist you can identify the problem, take a photo and report it.
The app will then make recommend actions you can take to make the home pool safer.
Rob Bradley says children can never be left alone when they are in, on or around water.
He also mentioned the fact that thousands of pools around Australia remain as potential death traps because of unsafe fencing and gates that do not work properly.
Top get more information or to download the Home Pool Safety App, simply go to www.homepoolsafety.com.au or search ‘Pool Safety’ in the App Store.
For information about resuscitation training in your local area, contact Royal Life Saving on 1300 RES-Q-ME (1300 737 763).
