According to the latest report from the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, at the end of January this year, there were 15 child drownings in bodies of water in the country. Antioquia, Caldas and La Guajira, the figures rebounded with 2 cases of the male gender, each.
During these Easter holidays, the Mariana Novoa Foundation summarizes in 11 safety tips what parents and caregivers should do to avoid deaths in minors due to drowning.
“Death by drowning is a silent danger. It has been shown that a child under five years of age does not produce noise when falling into a body of water. Permanent visual supervision is the key to avoiding any type of accident, but there is always more to do”, says Hortensia Espítatela, director of the Mariana Novoa Foundation.
BEWARE OF THE SAFETY OF CHILDREN IN THE POOLS!
Please note the following recommendations:
- Never take your eyes off children when they are in or near a pool pond or similar structure (jacuzzi, spa, bathtub, hot tub, etc.), not even for a second!
- If you are in a group, designate a “water guardian”, taking turns with other adults.
- When you are supervising, stay alert and avoid distractions like reading, talking, or on the phone.
- Teach children how to move through the water, how to float, and how to get out of the pool. Tell children to stay away from pool and hot tub pond drains.
- Do not rely on floats, “inflatable wings” or any other inflatable toys, they are not safety devices.
- If your child can’t swim, keep him no farther than your arm’s reach. If you find a loose, broken, or missing drain cover, notify the owner or operator and do not enter the pool or hot tub pond.
- That your child always wear a swimming cap, especially if the length of their hair is considerable, do not allow them to swim with necklaces, loose dresses, or any object that might facilitate mechanical entanglement in the drain or in any pond accessory.
- Maintain self-closing devices (hinges) and self-adjusting devices (knobs) on doors leading to the pool pond area and/or similar structure.
- Learn how to give Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) to young and old children.
- All the doors and windows of the houses that allow access to the pool pond must remain secured or, failing that, limit their opening to a maximum of 10 cm.
- Keep the area around the pool pond and/or similar structure clear of objects (quadrant guarding) that would allow a child to climb the fence.
It is noteworthy that, at the end of 2021, 198 cases were presented (147 nboys and 57 girls), all 100% preventable. Antioquia rebounded with 29 accidents (23 boys and 6 girls), followed by Santander with 13 cases (9 boys and 4 girls) and Tolima with 12 cases (5 boys and 7 girls).
Factors that influence girls to drown less than boys
Hortensia Espitaleta assures that “following analyzing the data and figures obtained, we determined that girls are less impulsive, they are easier to supervise, they carry out more group activities and they are more cautious, and that is why they are less prone.”
