Water safety
Swimming pool safety
David Walker, Leisure Safety Information Manager at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), looks at one very important area that is often forgotten when planning a holiday
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As winter stretches on, many families will be seeking respite from the big chill by turning their attention to planning a holiday. Millions of Britons jet off to sunnier climes each year, with half-term, Easter and winter breaks becoming increasingly popular, in addition to the traditional summer holiday.
Of course, holidays do not organise themselves and many hours are often spent poring over holiday brochures, scouring the internet or talking to travel agents in search of the perfect destination. Choosing the right location and mix of activities for your family is obviously key to ensuring that everyone has a good time. It is also important that your chosen accommodation suits your family, and this is particularly true when it comes to somewhere with a swimming pool. Since 2000, at least 30 UK children under the age of 10 have drowned in swimming pools abroad.
Helping parents and guardians understand how these tragedies happened, and offering some simple advice to consider before and during a holiday will hopefully go some way towards saving young lives in the future.
Key facts behind holiday drownings
A child who is drowning does not necessarily cry out for help or wave to be rescued. Instead, they disappear under the surface, often unseen and unheard. Because of this, it is easy to understand how children can drown both in busy pools that are crowded with other people and in deserted pools.
The holiday swimming pool drownings on which RoSPA has been able to collect information were spread across different types of accommodation:
- Hotels – 12
- Holiday villas/homes – 8
- Campsites – 2
- Unknown – 8
Under-fours were the victims in more than half of the incidents. In many cases in which a toddler was involved, the child had wandered away from its parents and had fallen into an unsupervised pool.
For four and five-year-olds, some drownings happened after the child was last seen playing in or near to water. In many of these cases, parents were unaware of the problem until the child was found in the water, which, most commonly, was a hotel pool.
In all of the drownings involving six to nine-year-olds, the child had been swimming.
A significant number of holiday pool drownings are reported to have happened on the first or last day of the holiday, perhaps when parents have been distracted with arrival or departure arrangements and when children have been keen to explore.
Lifeguards
The UK has high lifeguarding standards and you may find that such standards differ when abroad. If you are staying in a hotel or apartment complex with a pool, bear in mind that a lifeguard may not be on duty. Even if there is a “lifeguard”, remember that their role may be combined with other duties. Some will be employed as pool attendants who give out towels and ensure the pool area is clean. Their main response is usually after an incident has happened, whereas a UK lifeguard’s main role is focused on preventing incidents from happening in the first place.
If you are staying in a holiday villa or a private home, you will need to act as the lifeguard. In some of the cases in which drownings have occurred in these locations, a child has gone outside without their parents’ knowledge and then ended up in the pool. Because you cannot be awake and supervising your children at all times, consider booking a villa only if it has pool safety fencing.
Before you travel
The booking process is the best time to find out as much as you can about potential holiday destinations:
- Reputable holiday specialists should have information on how appropriate their properties are for children, so don’t be afraid to ask questions about the swimming pool or any other aspect of the safety arrangements.
- If you are thinking of staying in a hotel or apartment, see if the pool has a lifeguard.
- If you prefer a villa, ask whether it has pool safety fencing with lockable gates and, if you have young children, think twice before booking if it doesn’t.
Taking your children swimming in the
months before going on holiday and
teaching them about water safety (including
where to get help in an emergency) is also
a valuable exercise that will benefit them
for the rest of their lives.
See www.rospa.com/waterandleisuresafety/youngpeople
for water safety tips for children.
And, if you have never learned first aid (including how to resuscitate a child), why not investigate local training courses?
When you are on holiday
If you have done your research before travelling, you shouldn’t find any swimming pool surprises waiting for you at your destination. But when you arrive, do take some time to check out the pool layout, including familiarising yourself with the depth of the water, any potentially hazardous decorative features such as rocks, and the location of emergency rescue equipment.
Other points to consider:
- Supervision is the key to preventing many accidents involving young children. Therefore, make sure that you actively supervise young children near water, and, because keeping watch can be tiring, try to take it in turns with other adults if possible.
- Be especially watchful on the first and last days of your holiday when you might be tired and distracted and your children are keen to explore their new surroundings or make the most of their last few hours away from home.
- Even if your pool has a lifeguard, know where your children are and what they are doing in the water.
- Remember, inflatables are not designed as lifesaving equipment and they are not a substitute for supervision or swimming ability.
- Help your children gain as much enjoyment from the water as possible – see if there are any swimming classes they can go to, both to build up their confidence and learn water safety skills.
Have a great time!
In brief
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Holidays are fantastic opportunities for children to get out and experience the world around them. This is an important part of growing up and not only helps children have fun and stay active, but means that they also learn about the risks they might encounter throughout life.
Bumps and bruises are to be expected and should not unduly concern parents, but there are steps that can be taken to prevent the more serious accidents, including drownings. Thinking about the swimming pool options before you travel should enable you to choose a destination that is both fun and safe for your family.
The Sea
There have been a number of high-profile drownings of British children and adults in the sea at holiday resorts in recent years. As with swimming pools, RoSPA’s advice is to get as much information as you can about your chosen destination before or when booking your holiday.
Ask where the safest swimming
spots are and if conditions will be safe when
you are staying there.
Enquire about whether lifeguards
are on duty on the beaches, and ask if there
are any beaches that should be avoided for
swimming because of dangerous currents. Ensure that you know what the
flags mean, both here in the UK and abroad
– they do not all mean the same thing.
See
www.rospa.co.uk/waterandleisuresafety/youngpeople/flags.htm for the UK flags.
Double check with your rep, hotel
manager or local people when you arrive to
be sure you know where the safer bathing
spots are.
Read beach information and swimming pool signs and act according to the information provided. Be particularly wary when holidaying during the off season because there are less likely to be lifeguards on duty and bathing conditions may be quite different at peak times.
For more information, visit: Website: www.rospa.com/waterandleisuresafety
