This is National Drowning Prevention Week and we’re being reminded that the most vulnerable among us are young children
Seventeen children died of drowning over a five-year period in our province.
Dr. Ian Pike is the Director of the BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit at BC Children’s Hospital and he says the most dangerous places for children are not always the most obvious ones.
“The more exciting waterways, rapids, canyons, rivers, we don’t see a lot of young child problems there because parents recognize the issues,” he said. “We’re just here reminding parents to recognize that those issues also exist in what seems to be more innocuous situation like the backyard pool.”
Pike points out there are things we can do to help protect our kids.
“Parents can and should, we believe enroll their children in swimming lessons,” Pike told Radio NL. “This is one of the things that parents can do proactively to ensure their children can support themselves at the surface for at least a short time and can make sort of headway in the water if they need to.”
He notes parents should always be aware of what their kids are up to if they are close to water to prevent a tragedy.
(Photo via Pixabay)