Do you want your child to be safe in and around water? As leading experts in aquatic education, we strongly feel the importance of teaching children how to enjoy water, whilst being safe. Currently in the UK, there are between 400 to 600 deaths from drowning every year. This statistic doesn’t even include drownings of British citizens in foreign resorts, which would of course bring the overall number even higher.
In fact, the WHO estimates a world wide annual drowning total of 372,000, which makes it the 3rd leading cause for unintentional injury death.
So, what can we do to lower this number? We feel that proper education from a young age, of the potential dangers of different types of water will go a long way. Drownings don’t just happen in the pool alone. Accidents can happen in open water expanses like the sea and lochs, as well as rivers, canals, baths and hot tubs.
The problem? There’s not always one single cause of drowning, which is one of the reasons it can be very tricky to prevent. For example, if you’re in cold water, you can become tired much quicker than in warm water, which could be one cause.
Another cause could be hair getting trapped in outlet valves of pools. That is why it is important to be aware of various potential dangers, including fast moving water, tides and even deep parts of pools.
We’ve created this infographic which aims to educate both parents and children on potential dangers you could face in and around water.