Danger to Life in the Garden: Expert Warns About Private Pools

To prevent child drowning in swimming accidents, children should learn to swim as early as possible, and adults should not underestimate the danger. This was stated by Thomas Wagner, the senior physician in charge of the pediatric intensive care unit at the Donaustadt Clinic, on Wednesday to the APA. Drowning is one of the most common causes of death in children related to accidents. The greatest risk, according to the physician, is in private pools: "There is no supervision and not enough security."

Private Pools as the Greatest Danger for Swimming Accidents in Children

Approximately 40 people drown in Austria each year, the Austrian Samaritan Association announced in a statement on Wednesday. Most swimming accidents where children drown are preventable, said intensive care physician Wagner in an interview with the APA. There is often a lack of awareness of the danger among adults. "The accidents usually happen in private settings." Typical moments are when children play near an unsecured pool and the parents are briefly distracted - by a phone call, for example, or because they quickly go to the bathroom. Or also, when many people and several children are present, and the situation is confusing. His demand: groups should designate one person "who exclusively takes care of the children, who exclusively watches which children are near the water."

Learning to Swim and Using Swimming Aids

The second key point is "that we live in a society where alarmingly many children cannot swim and do not learn to swim." Wagner advised teaching children to swim as early as possible, from the age of three it is generally possible. Everyone else must always use a suitable swimming aid, even under supervision. The Samaritan Association also emphasized in the statement that swimming wings and rings do not replace the parental duty of supervision.

That a child goes under happens very quickly. Especially in murky water, children are difficult to find. But the longer it takes to rescue someone from the water, the more dangerous it becomes: After a duration of three minutes underwater, brain damage usually occurs. If a child goes under, adults must immediately activate the rescue chain and take emergency measures. "The crucial thing is to get air into the child's lungs if they are no longer breathing." The biggest misconception is that you can let the water run out of the lungs again. The pediatric intensive care physician also advises parents to take a first aid course to be able to react correctly in an emergency.

53 Children Drowned Between 2007 and 2021

According to the focus report of the Research Center for Child Accidents in Graz from 2022, 53 children drowned in Austria between 2007 and 2021, most of them were under four years old. "If you extrapolate that, between three and four children per year are lost," said Wagner.

On the pediatric intensive care unit of the Donaustadt Clinic, about five to seven children are treated annually after swimming accidents, estimates the senior physician. The treatment mainly depends on how severe the damage is when the child arrives at the hospital. "We can then try to prevent the continuation of this damage. But what happens at the beginning, until help is provided - that cannot be influenced."

(APA/Red)

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