Prevention of Injuries Month, December 2012

December is a time of summer fun in South Africa and many people take holidays to enjoy the festive season with their friends and family. This time is also marred by child drownings or near-drownings. Therefore it is important to be mindful of all the dangers so that those long summer days are carefree.

As part of the Government Employees Medical Scheme's (GEMS') on-going effort to educate our members and future members on a range of healthcare topics, this article looks at the subject of child safety this Prevention of Injuries Month, December 2012.

According to Swim Alive, three children drown in South Africa every day and of those who do not drown, five suffer from brain damage. Close to 400 people drowned in our country last year and most of them were children. The majority of child drownings occur either in the swimming pool or when children are left unattended in the bath. Vast amounts of water are not necessary for drowning to occur, children can drown in mere centimetres of water and buckets of water, toilets, ponds and baths can all have the same grave consequences.

We urge all childminders to pay extra attention to children who have access to swimming pools, ponds or any other body of water. Many children who drown were under some sort of supervision at the time. It is therefore extremely important for parents to take the necessary precautions to avoid the possibility of this kind of tragedy occurring.

Prevention
As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure. The following can help keep your children safe:

• Never leave them unsupervised at the pool or beach, even if they are able to swim.
• Don't leave them unattended in the bath; if you leave the bathroom take them with you. It only takes a few minutes for a child to drown.
• If you have a swimming pool, make sure it is fully fenced in and don't leave the pool gate open at any time.
• If you do not have fencing around your pool, make sure that the pool is covered with a safety net.
• Make sure that ponds are covered with mesh or netting at all times.
• Teach your children how to swim.
• Learn CPR - this can save your child's life.

What to do

• Get the victim out of the water as soon as possible, but always make sure that the water is safe for you to go into first.
• Keep movement to neck and back to a minimum.
• Assess whether the victim is conscious or not.
• Check for breathing. If the victim is not breathing administer two slow rescue breaths ensuring that the victim's chest JUST starts to rise.
• If there is no response to these rescue breaths, start CPR.
• CPR is vital. Keep doing it until someone who is trained in advanced life support arrives.
• Call or have someone call a recognised ambulance service as soon as possible.

Make sure that this festive season is a jolly one by taking these pointers into consideration. They may just save the life of a loved one.

If you would like to know how GEMS can assist you to obtain more information about any of your healthcare needs, you can contact the GEMS call centre on 0860 00 4367 or send a SMS to 083 450 4367. GEMS will assist you in every way possible to ensure your family's health and well-being.

References
1.World Health Organisation, www.who.int
2.Living and Loving, www.livingandloving.co.za
3. Child Safe, www.childsafe.org.za