Part of what many of us love about South African summer is the chance to spend so much time around water – be it lakes, dams, the ocean or a swimming pool. But every year tragedy strikes a number of families when people – often children – drown.
If you are planning to spend time these holidays swimming or relaxing at waterside beaches or resorts or at your own home please read these tips and don’t let any member of your family become a statistic this summer.
Water safety tips
-
No child should swim without a strong swimmer present.
-
When there are children around, pools must be fenced in with a safety gate, and a good quality SABS approved pool net or cover is mandatory and well worth the expense. Just because you have a pool net however you should still never allow young children to play unaccompanied around the pool as drowning can still happen.
-
Ban running around the pool even if it makes you unpopular. Nasty accidents can happen on slippery poolsides. You may also want to insist that everyone wear non-slip shoes near the pool. This is especially important for elderly or frail family members.
-
If you young children have not yet learned to swim they should always enter the pool or other body of water with a good quality swim aid such as arm bands.
-
Apart from whisky and water, alcohol and water don't mix well – no one who has been drinking should swim – every year people drown in our oceans after drinking too much alcohol.
-
No-one should swim within 20 minutes of eating.
-
Be aware that floatation toys such as boats and lilos can quickly float away from the shore at beaches and dams.
-
Anyone on a boat who cannot swim needs to wear a life jacket in case they get into trouble while on the water.
-
Be sure to have sufficient shade and sunscreen when spending time in the sun. Avoid full sun during the hours between 10 and 4 each day.
-
Always have a first aid kit to treat bluebottle or jellyfish stings at the beach, and scrapes and falls on the rocks.
-
Save the number of the NSRI and other emergency numbers to your cellphone and have them displayed next to your landline phone before the holidays for any emergency. Remember that out of town guests won’t know the local emergency numbers.
-
Some of South Africa’s beaches have shark warning flags and systems in place. Always familiarise yourself with any shark warning procedures.
-
Don’t swim at any beach where no lifesavers are present.
-
Don’t dive into any water where you cannot clearly see the bottom or where you are not personally sure of the water depth.
