Following the death of a baby yesterday and the near drowning of another toddler on Saturday it heartbreakingly highlights the dangers of a backyard pool.
A one-year-old girl has tragically drowned in a backyard swimming pool – just a day after a separate incident where a 22-month-boy was found unconscious in the water.
Police say that at about 4.15pm on Sunday the girl was found floating in the pool on Thunderbolt Drive at Raby in Sydney’s southwest, reports Daily Mail.
The toddler was pulled from the water and rushed to Campbelltown Hospital by ambulance where she was pronounced dead a short time later.
The drowning occurred less than 24 hours after another incident where a 22-month-old boy fell into a backyard pool in Castle Hill, north-west of Sydney, at 4pm on Saturday.
He was rushed to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead after he was found unconscious following a near-drowning incident.
The little boy was revived by family members and paramedics at the scene before he was airlifted the Children’s Hospital in a critical condition.
The toddler is fighting for his life but due to privacy restrictions, his current condition is unknown.
The boy was believed to have been in the pool for five minutes before he was found, Seven Network reported.
Last month two young sisters aged three and four years old drowned in a backyard swimming pool.
Their mum Renise issued a warning to parents in the wake of their tragic deaths begging them not to own a backyard pool.
“My advice to any mother and any family out there is to not own a house with a pool,” Ms Young said.
“No matter how old the kids are and how well you think you are looking after them – it is so dangerous.”
The statistics are horrifying
The 2016 drowning report from Royal Life Saving found between 1 July 2002 and 30 June 2015, 83 drowning deaths in private pools were recorded.
The key findings related to appropriate supervision, pool fencing and emergency care.
Supervision
• Supervision was completely absent in 59% of cases, with older siblings or other children left to supervise younger children in 6% of cases
• Among cases where it was known how long a child was left unsupervised for, 33% of children were left unattended for 5-10 minutes and 30% were left unattended for 3-5 minutes
Barriers
• Among cases with information on fencing available, fencing was present in 27% of cases, absent in 27% of cases and faulty in 35% of cases
• Among cases with available information, children most commonly gained access to the pool through a faulty fence or gate (38%), lack of a fence (31%) or a gate which was propped open (18%)
280 PEOPLE DROWNED IN AUSTRALIAN WATERWAYS BETWEEN 1 JULY 2015 AND 30 JUNE 2016
Kidsafe Victoria’s summer pool safety tips:
•Never take your eyes off children around water; if you have to leave the water area for any reason, take the children with you.
•Appoint an adult as a designated supervisor, including at BBQ’s and pool parties. Never leave toddlers in the care of older children.
•When you are supervising toddlers, ensure that you are within arms’ reach at all times.
•Ensure that your pool safety barrier is secure and in proper working order.
•Never prop the pool gate open, this allows children easy and often unsupervised access to the pool area.
•Learn CPR and update your skills regularly. Resuscitation posters kept near pools are a good reminder.
RIP little one. Our thoughts are with the family.
Do you think we need to ban backyard pools? How else can we prevent these statistics increasing?
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