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The most effective way to prevent drowning is to control access to the water.
There are multiple ways to do this:
- Swimming pool fencing – four-sided fenced private pools are an excellent way to prevent a drowning event. Enclosing the pool (isolation fencing) is better than enclosing the property and the pool together. The fence should be at least 1.1 meters high without footholds and with a secure, self-closing and self-latching gate. Ornamental iron bar fences are attractive, provide visibility and are harder for children to climb than chain-link fences that can be easily scaled by young children.
- Pool alarms and pool covers should NOT be used in place of a four-sided fence because they are not likely to be used appropriately and consistently. Pool covers have also found to be an additional hazard for children, as children trying to walk on a cover have submerged and were not visible, causing a delay in rescue.
- Swim seats are dangerous products and should not be used for learning to swim;
- Floaters are recommend for learning to swim because they enable the child to keep her/his balance. Yet it is important to remember that buoyancy aids, however “safety enhancing” they may seem, are only “aids” and that it is always necessary to monitor the children using them when in water of all depths.
Swimming instruction is effective at improving swimming performance: the ability to dive, swim underwater, breathe correctly, and tread water. Swimming ability should be promoted as a necessary component of water competence, but with the understanding that swimming ability alone is not sufficient to prevent drownings.
This information has been taken from the Fact sheet on Water Safety published by the Alliance in October 2006. This fact sheet including the references to the information above is available here.
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