Surely it's not that time again?

So it is August. The weather is nearing fine from the coldest winters in Australia and recent storms to our perfect weather of today of sunshine, warmth and the Australian way of life... Spending it near, on or around water. I fear the inevitable now because it's that time again. It is time for drownings. Totally preventable but sadly we will see the latest report out soon saying the sadness of statistics of all those families losses reduced to just numbers on a report page. How depressing.

Drowning and the subject of same has become a way of life. Everytime I take Harry out or his friends on our new farm I'm alert, I'm aware and obsessive (to the point of crazy) that they must stay within my sight and never go near the dams. I have life jackets on cued standby. Our Cattle dog Banjo, who is deaf, loves the water. We venture down to the dam on a walk and Banjo throws himself in it without thinking (after all he is a dog, albeit a deaf one) and gets all muddy, washy and intends on having fun. It's a dogs life afterall. I sit and watch my son and his beloved four legged friend having fun, chasing the ball, Banjo retrieving it and bringing it back for yet another round. Harry has four balls on standby if he loses one. In my mind I sit and ponder, alert as I am that something could go wrong. My heart rate is up, naturally. My son is around water. A natural water feature of mud, murky water and follage. All potential dangers. My mind races as I watch them. I jump at the first sign of the dog getting caught in the follage and breath a huge sigh when Harry says "He's okay mum he just dropped the ball". Hell I'm not dropping mine. My mind is alert, my heart is always in my throat, I'm always talking to Harry and he knows to always talk back and hes within 5m of me and the dams edge. He too is now water alert and on guard. He doesnt go in the water to retrieve the ball, that is what the dog is doing. He intelligently picks up a rock and throws it near a ball that is missing that Banjo can't see. he improvises. I sigh with relief. The dog sees the ball after the rock is thrown. I wonder how many kids would have just 'gone in' and got stuck and drowned. Harry knows better but he'd never be at the dam without either one of us. I sit back and Harry (all of aged 8 and beyond it) talks about those families who have had dam drownings and the messages we advocate. Harry is a little advocate with a soft heart and he gets upset when he speaks of those kids he knows so fondly. He tells me how he feels about loss and the loss of his sister and how he wishes it was different. Harry was only 17 months old when Hannah died. He doesn't remember her which breaks all our hearts.

We walk back to the house and another day ends with dinner and a tired out deaf cattle dog. All ready to do it again tomorrow.

This is just one day, in our life as a family who has suffered a drowning, trying to live normally. Next it is swimming lessons privately with Di, swim lessons at school where I also volunteer to give the kids more one on one time and the education about breath holding and its dangers, the diving into shallow waters, talking to teens about drugs/alcohol and swimming at the same time, looking out for your mates and community events and speaking. Its warmer weather again and we are becoming very busy. I feel exhausted just looking at the calender. Its nearing October 4th, the anniversary is a dreaded, awful time ahead. It is yet another number in our life. This year the numbers are seven and ten. Seven years since Hannah died and her tenth birthday in December. Another life robbed life.

At a friends house I go into another meltdown and my heart is in my throat when the mop bucket is in the kitchen and her toddler is in the tv room. Another potential tragedy waiting to happen, so I just empty it. My friend is "Kat's lost the plot again". Its a common saying by many of my friends but until attitudes change nothing will change in the statistics. Drowning can happen to anyone not just those with dams or pools or those that fail to empty the mop bucket. We must, as parents be alert. If we care for children we also must be alert. Eyes on all the time, never faultering to a book, a text, facebook or having a nap. Water kills. Water is dangerous. It's time to get serious about how to save lives. My heart beats are overwhelming at times to the point I cannot speak (I'm sure many would love the silence). I am fearful of what the warmer weathers will bring. After all its what we do as advocates.

So I challenge anyone who reads this to think and ask themselves "How will I change my ways about water and children?"

How many of you have answered the phone when the kids are being bathed? Left the children alone to make dinner? Grab a towel? Walked inside to get something and left the kids alone in the pool or the backyard? Not fenced the house off from the dam? Propped open the pool gate? or removed a panel of your pool fence to fix it only to leave it til tomorrow? or left your little one in the care of an older sibling? If anyone says "shit.... I've done that" Take note. My life could be yours. My crime was not supervising Hannah on the verandah of our house, where she had clear access to a chair and our pool fence whilst changing the nappy of our son Harry. The rest is historically painful. Drowning only takes a split second and it takes 30 seconds to drown and to lose brain function. A whole two minutes is what it takes to die. Forever. Gone. No second chance.

Life is about choices and actions. As Parents, our actions are contributory to safety and we must all be alert, be wise and be on guard, always thinking about safety. It is not just about water either. Cars in driveways, televisions or cupboards falling over, hot water in the kitchen, blind cords, window screens the house hold list goes on for the potentional dangers that can kill our children.

I urge everyone, every parent and carer to always be safe because life is too precious. I am dreading this warmer weather because of what I know, what I have seen and what I can forsee coming. I hate the latter. I want to prevent it. So does our son, so does every family ever touched by tragedy.

Please Supervise children always, never leave them alone, never prop open the pool gate, never leave them in the bath, never swim in murky waters without a life jacket, empty the mop bucket, teach kids about water and the dangers, yes by all means teach them to swim but remember SWIMMERS DO DROWN, SWIMMERS CAN DROWN and learn CPR, whilst its the last end of life saving its something. I just pray as a parent that no other parent ever has to try and revive their child after two minutes in a cold pool. No parent should lose a child. EVER.

Kat Plint
Advocate and Mother of Five

Think about this.... This story could be you, your friend, your neighbour

WARNING: This entry of my blog comes with a WARNING that it could be distressing to some readers. Please be cautious of its content about Child drowning.

If Australia is to get serious about drowning prevention as opposed to water safety we need to get back to the basics.

Supervision and barriers together will save lives.

Over the past five years having become a Water Safety Advocate not by choice, but by fate, through losing my own child through drowning the research I have been able to undertake in Coroner's Court, Public Awareness Campaigns, speaking to parents and general research has really raised my own opinion on how drownings happen.

Scenario:

A young toddler aged two fully clothed, shoes and socks enters a backyard through an open door which an older sibling has just come home through, through the laundry at his house, mum is currently in the kitchen making a sandwich, the toddler is exploring his surroundings. The toddler comes across something in the backyard. The toddler is approximately 60 cm away from a broken pool fence panel. The mother is unaware that the pool fence is broken. The toddler since the age of six months of age has been attending water familiarisation programs at his local swim school with mum once a week. Every Friday, religiously mum packs up the family car, the swim bag and heads off the fun and play in key games in the pool. Mum believes she is teaching her toddler about water safety. Only last week this toddler sitting in his swim nappy, and his goggles and swim cap was sitting on the side of the Pool. Upon a cued song with others around them this toddler then jumped into the water. Kicking and propelling himself into mum’s arms then with mum's instruction and again on cue from the instructor he then propels himself back to the side of the pool and then smiles and claps at his achievement. This is where last week's lesson will go horribly wrong.

The toddler is now at the pool fence with a gap of more than 10 cm he is able to fit through the bottom corner. It's only been 15 seconds since the toddler was out of mum sight. The next 20 will leave this family shattered forever.

As the toddler adventures through the cleared landscaping now heading for the water the lessons of last week will not kick in. The toddler is wearing a jacket, a T-shirt, a singlet, and nappy, a pair of corduroy jeans, shoes and socks. The toddler is now on his knees looking at the water. Most if not all toddlers at this stage will explore their environment this is what toddlers do best. The toddler sees a leaf in the water and his ball across in the middle of the pool. The toddler has now reached out with his hands. The next 20 seconds are the most crucial. There is silence still, no splashing, no screaming, nothing, not a sound. He is now fighting for life but in sheer silence.

Mum is now calling bub's name she can't hear him and she can't see him. there is 360 degrees from where mum is standing, which degree does she travel?

Thinking the pool is fenced there is no danger. Mum then ventures around the side of the house, the toddler is nowhere to be seen. Mum walks past(still not in panic) the edge of the pool and notices something in the water that is unusual as she walks close eye she notices it's actually her child. As she runs in a panic to the pool gate she realises the key is on the fridge in the kitchen she is unable to climb the gate not knowing how her child at this stage had entered the pool area mum is screaming and neighbours come running. One neighbour jumps the back fence into the pool area and grabs her son out of the pool. In a clear panic the neighbours start CPR by this time 3 min as already passed. Mum is now constantly screaming in a panic she is unable to move she is frozen with emotion and shock. Bystanders from neighbours assist the mother and trial and called 000.

This scenario is all too often happening in backyard swimming pools, Lakes, creeks and dams yet we are told that swimming lessons save lives. So what went wrong?

I’d like to give you my opinion and this has never changed in five years, I’ve written often on this very issue.

There are many factors that contribute to a drowning and they are never in isolation from each other.

1. supervision breakdown,
2. barrier breakdown,
3. breakdown in swimming skills or the ability to self rescue and survive, and
4. that CPR was unsuccessful. (And please when I say unsuccessful that does not mean failure. The fact that CPR was actioned, The fact that CPR was continuous is what you are meant to do. The fact that 000 was called and instructions were obtained. The fact is that CPR was administered by the local hospital as well as intubation and medications in a desperate attempt to save this young boy's life all were unsuccessful. No one failed CPR. CPR is the last line of defence in saving lives. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. More often than not in a drowning it will not.)

So what could have prevented this from happening?

We know that this young toddler had the skills to propel himself in the water, we know that he could turn around and reach the side of the pool, we know that he could hold his breath under water and turn around and again could reached the side of the pool and we also know that he could jump into the water willingly without fear. We also know that he was cued with instructions to do these very tasks. His lessons were fun, they were controlled, they were in a warm heated environment, yet when he drowned he was not cued, he had no one to tell him what to do, he could not he could not remember the action, and the water temperature was not heated. How tragic that his skills that he had only learnt last week had not been able to assist him. His mother wants to know why?

The pool barrier had not been maintained. Both parents work full time, rent the house, have three children, are regularly in the backyard, and were unaware that the bottom end of the back gate along the boundary fence had not been maintained. Again, the pool fence had not been checked the sometime either by them, their landlord, the agent or their council. How tragic that this could happen. Laws exist to ensure Pools comply for safety.

Supervision we all know is needed for young children. Homes, roads, shopping centres, parks, animal nurseries, anywhere where a young child resides, plays, or visits is a dangerous place. There are stories about dangerous laundries, bathrooms, lounge rooms, TVs, display cabinets, driveways the list goes on that can potentially be dangerous to children. Supervision is crucial in preventing accidents and injuries and also is the main first line of defence when preventing accidents and injury.

Many in the community would read the above story and would have instantly blamed the mother. I disagree, but then I am this mum too. The solid backup (second set of eyes) that mum needed on that day was a sound maintained and compliant pool fence could have prevented tragedy. It too failed. Its a proven, testified fact that over 85% of pool fences in Australia DO NOT COMPLY with safety standards. How bloody tragic!

Sadly I see this all the time too often in fact, it breaks my heart over again. Today, again we have those in the swimming industry saying learn to swim it'll save your life yet reading the above it tells a different story. It’s all we see in coroners court is the story above and never once have I witnessed nor undertaken the line of questioning of “why didn’t the skills kick in”.

If only the pool fence had been fixed, if it had of been known that it was broken the parents would have fixed it, if regular checks were in place, if the laws were in place to mandate that rental properties had compulsory pool fencing may be this tragedy could have been prevented.

The above scenario is WHY we have pool fencing laws and this is why there should be a mandatory inspection regime with professionals to check your pool fence. I urge every parent of a toddler with a pool to organise now a Pool Safety with a license professional who can certify your pool fence and issue you a pool safety certificate, anything less is not good enough.

I see too many of these scenarios in evidence briefs for a coronial inquest, please don’t let this happen to you. If you read this and ignore it you too could be living this mother’s life. A life of self- blame, public condemnation and suffering. PREVENTION and SUPERVISION and a COMPLIANT barrier are the only two steps to save a young child's life in any circumstance.

Rental properties, nationally equate to over 76% of all backyard pool drownings. This statistic is researched by Hannah's Foundation and was first calculated in 2009 after a cluster of drownings. I urge anyone who is a landlord, tenant or agent to read this and act immediately. Do an audit on your pools and check that they are compliant and maintained always.

Kat Plint
26th October 2012

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Courtneys Rule - WHY?

13th October 2011

Why the rule for Courtney?

On June 11th, 2011 the knock at the door came for Cathy and Anthony Simon. A knock that no parents should ever have to endure. The police notifying them, that their beloved 14 year old daughter Courtney was missing presumed drowned in Lake Macquarie.

As a parent of a child who drowned the numbness in your body is paralysing. The voices of those around you are blurred into echoes, you just lose sight of reality that this, this is all a very bad dream. It’s a joke right? It surely can’t be true?

In the days after Courtney’s body was found the reality set in for Cathy and Anthony. The anger came in waves and the questions mounted.

Here was a young girl, their beloved daughter, full of fun, laughter and the sunshine of her parents eyes gone in a split second. Drowning is quick they say but it is also preventable. So, if the Rule for Courtney that day was compulsory for her to wear her life jacket why am I supporting these two loving parents in their grief and despair? A simple rule. Rules that every boatie or licensed person on the water knows. It’s in the tests for licenses BUT... Don’t you hate the BUT’s in life?

That day Courtney was with friends. Friends who were unlicensed, in an unregistered boat (so its reported) and sadly a boat that was placed in water by other adults who should have known better. I’m not here to debate the faults of that day. The whole tragedy is just tragic and sad.

Courtney told her mum they were setting out on Friday but they never left. The weather was calm, however Saturday took her life in one wave of water and for hours she fought currents, tried to swim and then lost the strength and fitness to continue. Courtney drowned. Her life gone. All because she wasn’t wearing a life jacket. Could you swim in those conditions against all the odds? Not many do.

So, in partnership with Hannah’s Foundation, the Simon Family are now educating everyone on the water. It’s quite simple. If entering water in a boat or water vessel of any type ??? WEAR YOUR LIFE JACKET.

Just because you can swim doesn’t mean you won’t drown. Courtney is proof of that. A life jacket is your seat belt on the water so don't be a fool, just wear it. There is no excuse. Too many people in the past two weeks have lost their lives all because they were not wearing their life jackets.

The current laws are that children under 12 MUST wear a life jacket. Adults and children must wear them when crossing bars or the weather changes. The decision is discretionary to the skipper. Why not just make them compulsory instead for everyone and save the unnecessary heartache? It’s a bit late once you are swamped, if your boat is upside and you are fighting for your life in panic and trying to find that life jacket. What an enormous burden boaties have placed on them. Sadly for Courtney, her skipper is tragically burdened too, because a day of fun for three teens turned horribly wrong. If only for the life jacket.

So instead of wondering why us crazy parents in grief and anger like myself and Cathy get on the bandwagon and jump, scream up and down and cause a kafuffle with rules, legislation and creating awareness to save YOUR life or someone else you know. Think about it.

I have a saying; the “Maths of Water Safety”. We all love maths don’t we? The true cost of saving a life on the water is about $150 for a grade one PFD. The cost of a funeral and plaque is in excess of around $8,000 - $19,000 depending on where you live. If you can’t pay, you resort to the guilty burden of the Government assistance program or charities like us that try to help. The referrals from GPs to psychologists for counselling the grieving in excess of over $2,000 on Medicare and out of pockets around $4000 because many need counselling, they cry every day. All of this in just six months and this is for the parents not siblings or anyone else.

Not to mention the additional costs of those parents or survivors of tragedies that end up in psychiatric facilities because they tried to take their life. The cost of medications to try and pretend to be ‘okay’. No parent is ‘okay’ when they lose a child.

Then, as in 60% of families add the additional impact of parents losing their jobs (on in many cases quitting) or are so incapacitated with grief that they now rely on Centrelink to survive. The key here is Survival but the journey is bloody tough. Surviving through the tears, the list of challenges to breathe normally goes on. Oh, and to add to the list, if people do survive a drowning, the costs of hospital care on a permanent basis are excruciating.

All of this affects you the general public. Yes this hurts YOUR hip pocket come State and Federal budget time. Have I got your attention now? The maths of water safety. $150 vs $? What would you choose?

The increases in the costs to healthcare, provisions for the services by Government agencies, the huge enormous waiting list many parents find themselves on (unless they have Private Health then the costs go up even more) and government coffers paying out monies to families on Centrelink all because a $150 life jacket wasn’t worn. The seat belt of the water.

If you are a person with the slightest understanding of safety principles, you too, would support Courtney’s Rule and the other safety rules we advocate. Every person on the water has to wear a life jacket. That every boatie be licensed, learner boaties need more experience as you do with a motor vehicle. add to that the essential element of experience and knowledge that keeps us safe.

Courtney’s rule at least means Courtney didn’t die in vain It’s saving lives based on sound principles – not wrapping in cotton wool..

All of this could have been avoided if only for the $150 Life jacket.
Kat Plint
13th October 2011