The Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) is a leading charity in water safety, and following recent findings, is urging healthcare professionals and others working with families to help raise awareness of the risks associated with water in the home, with an initial focus on bath time.
The charity’s warning comes as its latest Child Drowning Update reports that a total of 125 children have drowned in the last four years, including 51 at home.
The report also highlights that 2 out of 3 drownings that occurred at home did so in the bath, and that most of the children affected were aged under five years.
Analysis of the drowning cases identified several factors as contributing to these deaths. The most common was a lack of adult supervision, where in 86% of cases, the child was unsupervised at the time of the incident. The charity has also undertaken some research amongst parents of children aged under five, to understand more about the behaviours typically seen around water at home.
What are the messages we need your help to deliver?
Always keep young children within arm’s reach in the bath. Always keep children under constant adult supervision in the bath. If you need to leave the bathroom, take the child with you.
In our survey, 59% of parents of children under five admitted to leaving the child unattended in the bath at least once in the past month – and for most, this was down to them forgetting something, such as a towel.
Never leave your child under the supervision of child siblings in the bath. If you need to leave the bathroom, take the child with you.
We found that 2 in 5 parents (41%) think it's safe to leave a baby in the bath with an older sibling, as long as it's not for too long.
Drowning can happen quickly and silently – in a matter of minutes. You won’t hear that something is wrong.
Parents often don’t realise that drowning happens quickly and silently. In our survey, 55% of parents believe they would hear thrashing and a lot of noise if their child was struggling in the bath.
Where can parents seek advice?
In response to the report findings, we’ve launched a brand-new fun and engaging water safety awareness campaign named Splash Safety at your Pad.
The campaign offers free hints, tips and advice for families, to help parents and carers alike learn more about the risks posed by bath time and how to stay safe.
Families can access the bath time safety resources here: Splash Safety at your Pad
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