New poll reveals Canadian parents believe teaching their kids to swim is the best way to prevent drowning

    Safe Kids Canada says swimming lessons are not enough

    TORONTO, May 28 /CNW/ - A new national survey from Safe Kids Canada shows
86 per cent of Canadian parents believe swimming lessons are the best way to
protect a child from drowning. However, this is not enough. Safe Kids Canada
recommends parents use five 'layers of protection' to keep kids safe from
drowning this summer, beyond swimming lessons alone.
    And while the five layers - actively supervising children, training
adults in CPR, First Aid and water rescue, four-sided fencing around home
pools, using lifejackets and teaching kids to swim - are important
individually, they are not exclusive of each other. All five layers should be
used together to keep kids safe from drowning. These recommendations are based
on the most current international research as compiled and reviewed by
Safe Kids Canada and their expert advisors, and unveiled today as part of the
kickoff of Safe Kids Week.
    "It is not enough to simply teach your child to swim," said Allyson
Hewitt, executive director of Safe Kids Canada, the national injury prevention
program of The Hospital for Sick Children. "Although this is an important
layer, parents play a vital role in drowning prevention. Research shows active
parental supervision combined with physical barriers like four-sided pool
fencing are some of the essential layers to keep kids safe."
    Drowning is the second leading cause of injury-related death for Canadian
children under the age of 14. An estimated 58 kids drown every year - the
equivalent of at least two elementary school classrooms. Another 140 are
hospitalized as a result of a near-drowning incidents.(1) These drowning
deaths and injuries are predictable and preventable.

    Five Layers of Protection for Drowning Prevention

    1. Actively Supervise

    Active adult supervision should be the number one priority for parents.
Drowning occurs most commonly in swimming pools, often during a lapse of adult
supervision; 42 per cent of all children ages five to 14 who drowned in the
past ten years did not have an adult watching them at the time.(2)
    According to Safe Kids Canada's recent survey, one-third of parents say
that their child is safe to be around water without parental supervision by
the age of 12 if they have had swimming lessons. But research shows older
children are still at risk of drowning, as they may overestimate their skills,
physical strength or the depth of the water.
    What's more, 34 per cent of Canadian parents believe that if a child were
drowning nearby, they would hear splashing, crying and screaming. This is
simply not true. Drowning happens quickly and silently, often the child just
slips under the water. Their lungs fill with water, making it impossible to
make any sound.
    Bottom line: Parents and caregivers need to stay within sight and reach,
when children are in, on or around water.

    2. Get Trained

    While active adult supervision is the top priority when it comes to water
safety, it can't end there. Parents must be trained and prepared to deal with
an emergency. This means knowing how to call for help, swim and perform First
Aid and CPR.

    Survey results indicate that Canadian parents aren't trained or prepared
to deal with these situations:
    -  41 per cent of Canadian parents polled rank their swimming skills as
       fair, weak or non-swimmer
    -  40 per cent of parents do not know CPR
    -  Only 23 per cent are trained in water rescue

    In the minutes it takes for emergency personnel to arrive, these skills
are critical in saving a child's life and preventing long-term injury.
    Bottom line: Adults need proper training before supervising children in,
on or around water.

    3. Create Barriers

    Nearly one in five Canadian parents (19 per cent) believe that if their
child has taken swimming lessons, fences and gates around home pools are not
needed. Studies have shown that using a four-foot high (1.2 m), four-sided
pool fence with a self-closing, self-latching gate could prevent 7 out of 10
drownings in children under the age of five.(3)
    While many Canadian pools have three-sided perimeter fencing, four-sided
fencing means the pool is completely fenced off from the house. Since
three-sided fencing uses the house as the fourth side to enclose a pool, it
enables children to easily access the pool from the house. A four-sided fence
provides a proven layer of protection.
    Safe Kids Canada is urging Canadians to change municipal by-laws
requiring a four-foot high (1.2 m), four-sided fence with a self-closing,
self-latching gate around all in-ground, above-ground and inflatable home
swimming pools.(4)
    Bottom line: A four-foot high (1.2 m), four-sided pool fence with a
self-closing, self-latching gate saves young lives.

    4. Use Lifejackets

    Lifejackets are designed to keep you afloat in water, but they only work
if you wear them. Nearly one-tenth of parents believe that children can be
left alone while swimming if they are wearing a floatation device such as a
lifejacket, arm floats or an inner tube. Only lifejackets and Personal
Floatation Devices (PFDs) are designed for safety but a child should not be
left alone to swim when wearing them. Arm floats, inner tubes and other
inflatable toys should never be used to prevent your child from drowning.
    Bottom line: Stay within sight and reach of your child and put young
children and weak swimmers in lifejackets when in, on or around water.

    5. Teach Kids To Swim

    Evidence shows that swimming ability alone cannot prevent downing. While
parent and tot swimming classes are designed to educate adults in water
safety, toddlers are still too young to grasp these concepts. Safe Kids Canada
recommends that by age five, children are ready to be enrolled in swimming
lessons. This is a developmental milestone for children. At this age children
have the mental capacity to understand the concepts taught in swimming
lessons, as well as the increased muscle development and coordination.
    Bottom line: Don't rely on swimming lessons alone to keep your kids safe.

    Today marks the start of the 2007 Safe Kids Week - Splash into Safety -
which runs from May 28 - June 3 and is sponsored by Johnson & Johnson. This
year the Canadian Red Cross and the Canadian LifeSaving Society have partnered
with Safe Kids Canada and Johnson & Johnson to help educate Canadians on
drowning prevention.

    Spokespeople Across Canada

    Safe Kids Canada has local expert spokespeople in Halifax, Montreal,
Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver available for interviews.

    Attention broadcast outlets: Water safety footage is available.
    ----------------------------
    Time of feed: 11:00 - 11:30 and 14:00 - 14:30 EST
    Coordinates: Anik F2C/1B @ 111.1 West, Vertical Polarization,
    D/L Freq. 3740MHz, Audio subcarriers 6.8 left, 6.2 right
    Trouble shoot: 1-800-565-1471

    Attention photo editors:

    A photo from the event - 198 bathing suits, representing the number of
children who drown or are seriously injured in a near-drowning incident each
year - will be available on the CNW photo wire.

    Splash into Safety Brochure:

    Safe Kids Canada and Johnson & Johnson are offering a free Splash into
Safety educational brochure for parents and caregivers. Log onto
www.safekidscanada.ca to download your copy.

    About Safe Kids Canada:

    Safe Kids Canada is a national leader in educating parents and promoting
effective strategies to prevent unintentional injuries and deaths of children.
Across Canada, Safe Kids Canada partners are conducting Splash into Safety
events this week. Local partners will educate families on drowning prevention.
Parents can check www.safekidscanada.ca to find out if there is an event in
their area, or to learn more about safety and injury prevention. They can also
call Safe Kids Canada at 1-888-SAFE-TIPS (723-3847).

    About Johnson & Johnson:

    Johnson & Johnson is the Founding Sponsor of Safe Kids in North America
(Canada, U.S., and Puerto Rico), and in 16 other countries around the world.
The company also sponsors Safe Kids Week, Safe Kids Canada's largest-scale
annual public awareness program designed to help reduce the frequency and
severity of preventable childhood injuries, the leading cause of death and
disability of Canadian children. Johnson & Johnson, with approximately
110,600 employees, is the world's most comprehensive and broadly based
manufacturer of health care products, as well as a provider of related
services, for the consumer, pharmaceutical and medical devices and diagnostics
markets. Johnson & Johnson has more than 200 operating companies in 57
countries around the world, selling products in more than 175 countries.

    Methodology

    Decima Research surveyed 1,024 adult Canadians parents aged 18 and over
with children between the ages of 0 - 17 years about their knowledge of
drowning prevention and water safety. The national telephone survey was
conducted between March 8 - 11, 2007 with a confidence level of +/- 3.1%,
19 times out of 20.

    ----------------------------
    (1) Safe Kids Canada. Child & Youth Unintentional Injury: 1994 - 2003
        10 Years in Review. 2006
    (2) Canadian Red Cross. Drownings and other water-related injuries in
        Canada. 10 Years of Research. 1991 - 2000.
    (3) Thompson D and Rivara F. Pool fencing for preventing drowning in
        children (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 3, 2004.
        Chicester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    (4) Sécretariat au loisir et au sport, the Canadian Red Cross (Québec
        Divison), and the LifeSaving Society. Pertinent Facts about Drownings
        and Other Water-Related Deaths in Quebec. Undated (1991 - 1991 data).

    /NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo accompanying this release is available on
    the CNW Photo Network and archived at http://photos.newswire.ca.
    Additional archived images are also available on the CNW Photo Archive
    website at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited
    members of the media/

For further information: Alison O'Mahony / Kate Carroll, Environics
Communications Inc., (416) 969-2745 / (647) 299-4294,
aomahony@environicspr.com; Jennifer Hall, Manager, Communications, Safe Kids
Canada, (416) 843-1190