Causes of drownings

Causes of child drownings in residential pools, identified by the Queensland Injury Surveillance Unit (QISU) include:

• inadequate fencing or no fencing
• lack of gate security
• lack of effective water safety skills
• inadequate supervision
• lack of resuscitation (CPR) skills.

Improve your pool safety

To improve the safety of your pool:

• complete the How safe is your pool checklist ( 1.9 MB)
• have your pool inspected and certified
• maintain your pool fence and gate latches
• ensure the gate is always closed
• ensure the latch closes automatically and cannot get caught and stay open
• do not tie back your gate or obstruct the latch from closing automatically at any time
• regularly check your fence for damage and to ensure objects near the fence (such as trees etc.) do not enable a child to climb over the fence
• teach your children to swim (swimming instruction alone is not a guarantee against drowning)
• constantly supervise children at all times when near swimming pools—many drownings happen in the few seconds that parents are distracted.

First aid

Learn CPR and first aid skills. First Aid and CPR training is offered by The Queensland Ambulance Service or other registered training organisations, such as the Royal Life Saving Queensland.