Don’t duck out of portable pool safety

ON AVERAGE, one child dies from a portable pool-related drowning every year in Australia, while others need hospital treatment and may be left with severe brain injuries.

These statistics have prompted Australian consumer law and product safety regulators to join forces with Royal Life Saving Society Australia to remind parents and carers to make portable pools safe.

The “Don’t Duck Out’ campaign aims to promote awareness about the dangers portable pools pose to young children.

“We’re asking parents and carers to make sure their portable pool is safe for youngsters, including by putting up safety barriers and always making sure the pool is drained after use,” Australian Competition and Consumer Commission deputy chair Delia Rickard said.

“Anyone thinking about purchasing a portable pool should take a few minutes to check out productsafety.gov.au/makeitsafe for further safety tips and advice.”

Royal Life Saving Society Australia chief executive officer said that the child fatality as a result of a portable pool drowning each year was almost always aged under five and more likely to be male.

“We don’t want any deaths or hospitalisations due to drowning this summer.”

The campaign is promoting the four SAFE tips:

• Supervise – Actively watch children within arm’s reach. Don’t leave older children in charge
• Act – Learn emergency response including CPR. It’s important to start compressions and breaths as soon as possible when a child is pulled from the water and to call triple zero (000) for help. If there are two people, one should make the phone call while the other does CPR
• Fence – In most parts of Australia, pools holding more than 30cm of water are legally required to have a compliant safety barrier. Check with your local council or government agency, and
• Empty and store safely. After keeping watch all day, pour out water and put the pool away where children can’t reach. Never leave it where it can refill with rain or sprinkler water.