The dangers of uneducated advocacy

Comment response to Terry Gulliver - Swim Coach and Gold Coast Bulletin Article 10th January 2016. GCB Article

Advocacy -  For the past near nine years this has been my life. It is very personal.   To advocate, educate and prevent drownings through public education and community support services, Coronial research, lobbying legislation changes to represent the Coronial recommendations from inquests, submission writings and authoring water safety campaigns.   For what?   To save lives.

So often I hear 'others' sprout their messages and their opinions but to what detriment of the very cause? 

The Keep Watch Royal Life Saving Program is one that we follow and Hannah's Foundation states:
Check the environment for potential dangers then:

1.  Supervision that is active
2. Barriers (both pool fences and barriers on the water Life Jackets)
3. Water survival skills
4. Emergency Procedures (CPR)

Hearing comments such as "parents are negligent for not putting kids into swim lesson and would rather buy slabs of beer" or "lazy parents are killing their children (this was said to my face)" or "parents don't have swimming as a priority" are all too common.  More often than not I hear the latter.   The community has such a astigmatic opinion towards families of drowning victims.   Terry has further stigmatised parents today. 

Charity - the work of charity is to give to others without receiving.   I wonder how many of those in the industry are charitable of time, lessons and the costs to reduce drowning statistics?  Even just a Parent help class?  I rarely see such.  In fact Hannah's Foundation has NOT ONE swim school as a donor to help our work?   Why?  Because they don't support our work because of our beliefs in SURVIVAL SWIMMING SKILLS.   

I've written many blog posts on Supervision and I will continue to write about Supervision because CORONERS in five states have all stated in their inquest findings of toddler drowning (under five) that Supervision and Barriers saves lives. I am yet to see the programs, swim schools or a swim instructor on the Witness stand in a Coronial inquest being challenged on the event of the death.   Whilst many of the statistics you see on our blog are our Statistics they are very personal.   Speaking to families you can break down further the Government recorded stats and I can go further to even record where children were taught to swim. 

Terry Gulliver stated "parents were negligent and complacent".  Considering all pool deaths in QLD have been encountered at a pool owners property with a visiting child and physical breaches to pool fencing was in place by the action of the pool owner is negligence.    Leaving a child in water without Supervision is negligence.  I advocate for criminal charges to be appropriated to events where a child has died or is injured when an act by a person contributes to a breach in safety.    Propping open a pool fence is dangerous.   

According to the public I was negligent.  I had Hannah taught to swim, we supervised her in the pool, we had a pool fence that locked and the front veranda was enclosed so she couldn't get out on the to road from our small farm.  The house was our safety area but I was wrong.    It all failed.   BUT, Hannah wasn't left in a body of water to swim alone.  She was on the veranda playing with our dog whilst I changed a nappy.    The rest is repetitive.  Hannah drowned, Hannah could swim, she died from a heart attack from hitting cold water naked.   The End.    This summer non fatal drowning specifically on the Gold Coast have occurred when kids were in the pool, and were known to be in the water.   So what goes wrong?

One story of Lilly, aged 7 was at a pool party and was in the pool with other children. Her mother in media articles stated she could swim and she thought that other adults around the pool could supervise.  More often than not many parents believe that because their child is a good swimmer they aren't at risk.   Maybe more education should be provided by swim schools to reinforce this message?    There are countless stories of adults sitting by the pool watching but in truth they had NO IDEA their child was drowning.  Adults don't know what drowning looks like.  

A child presented to Gold Coast Hospital for coughing up water after an immersion whilst swimming is well all too common.  When you are in water you risk drowning.   I've spoken to many parents and young children who have experienced a non fatal water immersion event.  Some say that they simply forget to swim, that their legs got tired,  they swam to the deep end of the pool and couldn't touch the bottom.  All similar stories.    What saved these children was the supervision by the pool and the CPR.  Their swim skills failed for whatever reason.  Just because you can swim doesn't mean you can't drown.  

As I talk to children about their event I have a common question to them.   The answers are staggering.    "Why didn't you just roll over and Float?" Many say they didn't know they could do that in the event of drowning, some say "I can't float on my back" or they don't like floating.   The skills taught to the kids who can swim and who do and have drowned simply didn't work.    Swimmers must be equipped with the knowledge and the skills to survive in the water.  The teaching pool and home pool are two different environments and more often, the swim school pool has ledges and home doesn't.

I am yet to attend a Coronial inquest where a coroner has stated SWIMMING WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE, if they were to do so and a victim could swim its contradictory.   

Parents MUST understand that drowning can happen to their children and to them too in the water.  Water kills.   The so called complacency by many is that 'my kids can swim they can't drown'.    This is the complacency that requires education.   I wonder how many of the children who have presented to the Gold Coast hospital are in fact in swim lessons as we speak?    I'd like someone to answer this question because its important and its in the public interest to know this statistic?  

As for coaches like Terry Gulliver.  Why are you so bloody callous and critical of the events of what has happened when you were not there?    Immersions have been happening for years.  A simple fall, gob full of water because kids were mucking around and yes the kids who need CPR.  The supervision and quick response is what has saved these children from a fatality.  Thank goodness adults were there and these kids were saved.  Its all about SUPERVISION.   After all it only takes 20 seconds to drown.     What we cannot record is whether these children were 'actually' dead or whether they had just passed out and not inhaled water (to mean they didn't actually drowned) or if they simply held their breathe too long and passed out (SHALLOW WATER BLACKOUT) and then drowned to be revived.  There are so many scenarios to a drowning but no one will ever know the real 'medical' risks.   The saying 'a drowning, is a drowning is a drowning' is a good start.       

First Aid responders can't answer these questions unless they are doctors but the Gold Coast hospital records IMMERSIONS for any patient that presents with a cause of concern or is admitted via an ambulance emergency call because it is now the law to report them.     The Foundation promotes drowning and its prevention. If you have been in water, had an incident of swallowing too much water or inhaled it the better part of caution and prevention is HOSPITAL.  

So Terry Gulliver, this comment about buying slabs of beer?   Lets go with this shall we?  How do you know that this is the mentality of Gold Goast parents?   Did you research a local tavern or drive thru bottle O to ascertain such truth?  I doubt it.   

To the next quote of 20% of students can't swim, where does this come from and if you know it exists what are you doing to lower it?   

20 out of 100 children in school you state can't swim.    WHY?  Have you even researched these so 20 children to find out why?    Research aids in education and provides a valuable tool to help lower the number.  What have you done with it?    All I've read is critical opinions of what you think Parents reasons and actions, or lack there of are.   How bloody rude of you as an apparent expert.      Did you ever consider that out of the 20% of children you say can't swim had a reason or circumstance that prevented such skills from being taught?

Let me give you some reasons I hear as an advocate.  I am also a Registered Swim Teacher for the record and teach kids for FREE as a volunteer through our charity for those who have lost loved ones, although I don't see many swim schools giving up free time.

20 kids out of 100.  I ask of you, how many out of this 20 had an incident as a younger child in water?   Are they scared?   Are their parents scared of water due to the incident?    The industry doesn't support many who are complex in their fears to water after a drowning.   (Read my blog posts here: My reality    and here A non fatal drowning)

How many of these children come from families with parental disability?   The disability can range from legal blindness, deafness, paralysis etc.  Whilst many can function with such, others have been unable to as parents to obtain the practicality of attending swimming lessons.  I've met parents who are legally blind, deaf and paralysed who have lost kids to drowning.    Two of these parents couldn't rescue their children.   Could you imagine being so helpless in such an event?   

Culturally diverse background children struggle with swimming too, what are you doing Terry to help combat this issue?    Do you have some spare time for a group of women to teach to their young girls in a closed space and private?     
How many of those 20 children are kids at risk in foster care?  The priority of swimming lessons isn't one of the Dept of Child Safety and as a former carer our foster child has massive issues with water and was risky around it.  I for one placed our Foster Child in swimming as soon as possible but the Dept never paid for it and it was a 'an extra curricular activity' not funded.    Foster carers do their best and with everything else going on in an 'at risk' Childs life swimming probably isn't the major priority.    I ask you to volunteer time to foster children and their needs Terry to teach them safety skills.  

What about the children in that 20 with medical conditions?   Epilepsy, Ear infections, prematurity development, compromised immune systems, eczema, remission for cancer, the list can go on for why kids haven't been in lessons and how dare you as an Industry representative persecute these parents for not doing so.   ASK THE QUESTIONS and you will find validated, genuine reasons.

How many out of that 20 have drunken, irresponsible parents who buy beer as opposed to providing lessons?   I'd stab at NONE and if there was such neglect they'd be in the foster care group.  Out of that 20 or so who can't swim, guess what?   They aren't dead or injured by drowning because Supervision has been in place or they haven't been in a high risk situation around water.    Just because a child at prep/Grade 1 can't swim isn't a crime and its not cause for parental condemnation.   Just be thankful they are getting the skills and by the time they are teens will know and understand the dangers.  

Every child should be vaccinated but they aren't.  Not every child swims.   Whilst it helps to reduce the statistics more often than not its the swimming kids who love the water who drown and not the ones who hate it.         

The community has an issue with drowning.   Its a judgemental death and injury that comes firing hard at poor mum.    Over the last three years all fatal deaths in QLD have occurred because kids have been left in pools unattended by adults other than the parents and the pool gates propped open. 

Supervision saves lives.  Supervision of swimmers in the water.  Supervision of children around water and outside the barrier pool fence.  

I am offended that the pool laws that so many parents fought to have enforced are stated as being the contributory factor in parental laziness.    20 years ago QLD had the highest drowning fatal on record.    It has only been since the new laws passed in 2010 that ALL IMMERSIONS were being recorded.   Prior to that who knows what the IMMERSION event statistics were.  What concerns me is that hospitals are stating statistics but they are unable to break down those admissions to the where, how, what and how the event occurred.   Maybe every event should be investigated by police and those investigative results published so the real truth can be told?  

Having read the comments online regarding this article I doubt the swimming industry was assisted in the cause because so many are disgruntled customers out there. 

May I suggest Swim schools offer the public:

1. If you have students who pay for lessons open your pool up for PRACTISE sessions with parents at no cost.    Explain and show parents water safety in the pool.

2.  Open your schools up to the disadvantaged in the community.  Contact community groups there is bounds of kids just waiting to learn who need an opportunity and its not because Parents don't care.

3.   Work with us on the issues of preventing drowning and support our advocacy of public education.  

4.  Stop criticising the parents who are doing the best they can with what they have and provide support to those who have lost children to drowning and to those who are rehabilitating children with injuries caused by drowning.   Parents WONT go public because of such criticisms and stigma.   Open your hearts up.

Terry Gulliver has a lot to learn on what Child drowning truly means and how his words have affected families and the advocacy.  The pool laws in QLD are because families of Hannah's Foundation fought long and hard for.  We as her parents, placed ourselves in the public view, opened our lives up for criticism. I am offended that our fight has come at some critical comments by Terry Gulliver.   Comments that are generalised or judgemental have cut deep today.    He has done the industry itself no favours but has opened the gates to social media discussions and some callous banter towards us which may, just may educate someone on the real truth of backyard drowning.

Kat Plint