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#654 Water Safety With Dr Anthea Rhodes · Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families

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  Speaker 1: It's the Happy Families podcast. It's the podcast for the
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  Speaker 1: time poor parent who just wants answers.
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  Speaker 2: Now, So a child's been drown in less than twenty seconds.
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  Speaker 2: It's faster than most people think, and as we say,
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  Speaker 2: it's often silent, and those things are what make it
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  Speaker 2: such a deadly and risky situation for children.
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  Speaker 1: And now here's the stars of our show, my mum
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  Speaker 1: and dad.
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  Speaker 3: Hello, this is doctor Justin Coulson. As we move so
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  Speaker 3: quickly now towards the summer holidays, Christmas is just around
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  Speaker 3: the corner, and this is the time where the weather
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  Speaker 3: warms up and we start to get into swimming pools. Now,
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  Speaker 3: I'm going to share a story as we kick off
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  Speaker 3: today's podcast that is a little bit hard to hear,
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  Speaker 3: and I just want to, I guess, highlight that I'm
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  Speaker 3: not sharing this to be sensationalistic, but to highlight the
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  Speaker 3: importance of our conversation today. My guest on the podcast
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  Speaker 3: is doctor Anthea Rhodes. Anthea joins me fairly regularly to
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  Speaker 3: talk about the RCH National Health Pole. Doctor Rhodes is
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  Speaker 3: the director of that pole, and there's been a new
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  Speaker 3: pole just conducted with results currently being published. Looking at
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  Speaker 3: kids and water safety, their capacity to be safe around water,
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  Speaker 3: to be swimming, engaging in swimming lessons. And we're heading
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  Speaker 3: to the beach that we've got swimming pools, we've got lakes, rivers,
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  Speaker 3: whatever it might be. And this is the season where
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  Speaker 3: we really need to have this conversation. This conversation is
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  Speaker 3: really important to me because my family has come so
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  Speaker 3: breathtakingly close to experiencing drowning. Where fortunate that it hasn't occurred.
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  Speaker 3: But at a family barbecue a few years ago, probably
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  Speaker 3: fifteen years ago. Now it goes really fast to the
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  Speaker 3: elder you get, But at a family barbecue around about
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  Speaker 3: fifteen years ago, everybody was hanging out of the pool
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  Speaker 3: area having a great conversation. The pool area was full
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  Speaker 3: of adults who were all having sausages and steak and
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  Speaker 3: salad and standing and sitting and just being present. There
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  Speaker 3: were kids swimming in the pool. My young cousin, James,
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  Speaker 3: who I think at the time was about two, was
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  Speaker 3: sitting on the edge of the pool and he slipped
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  Speaker 3: into the pool. The thing with drowning is that it's silent,
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  Speaker 3: and James just slipped into the pool and nobody noticed.
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  Speaker 3: He sunk to the bottom of the pool and had
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  Speaker 3: been on the bottom of the pool for an extended
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  Speaker 3: period of time before somebody saw him. We dived into
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  Speaker 3: the pool, pulled him out, and he was changing color.
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  Speaker 3: He was definitely in the process of drowning. Fortunately we
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  Speaker 3: were able to see him start breathing again fairly quickly.
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  Speaker 3: He vomited up a whole lot of water and he
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  Speaker 3: was okay. But another five, ten, twenty seconds and the
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  Speaker 3: outcome could have been tragic and we would have been
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  Speaker 3: attending a funeral rather than celebrating Christmas. So Anthea, thank
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  Speaker 3: you so much for joining me for this conversation. That
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  Speaker 3: story is one of those awful stories to start off
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  Speaker 3: a conversation like this, but I share it because it
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  Speaker 3: matters so much. When you did the RCH National Child
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  Speaker 3: Health Poll, are you asking and what did you find
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  Speaker 3: when it comes to kids and water safety?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks so much for having me on to talk
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  Speaker 2: about this really important topic justin and as you say,
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  Speaker 2: with summer and holidays around the corner, the risk period
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  Speaker 2: really goes up.
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  Speaker 4: Now. Your story, unfortunately.
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  Speaker 2: Is not a rare one, and most people listening will
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  Speaker 2: probably know of someone in their extended family or perhaps
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  Speaker 2: someone very close to them who has maybe had a
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  Speaker 2: near drowning episode. And of course in some situations it's
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  Speaker 2: not a near drowning, it can in fact have devastating outcomes.
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  Speaker 2: So we ask parents what they know about drowning and
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  Speaker 2: the risks of drowning, and one of the biggest findings
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  Speaker 2: is exactly as you say, it's that myth that perhaps.
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  Speaker 4: Children struggle or splash or make.
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  Speaker 2: A lot of noise or do something obvious if they're
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  Speaker 2: struggling in the water and starting to drown. In fact,
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  Speaker 2: in most instances it's quiet can in fact be silent
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  Speaker 2: and often goes unnoticed.
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  Speaker 4: So forty four percent of Australian parents didn't know that.
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  Speaker 4: They didn't know that.
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  Speaker 2: Drowning is often silent, and so they expect that if
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  Speaker 2: they've got half an hour on what's going on, they'll notice,
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  Speaker 2: there'll be a commotion, something will happen, the alarm will
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  Speaker 2: be raised, and everyone will be aware.
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  Speaker 4: But in fact, in.
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  Speaker 2: Studies where they've looked at footage that's been captured incidentally,
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  Speaker 2: like CCTV type footage where near drownings or drownings have happened,
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  Speaker 2: often there's people standing right alongside the incident, there's adults there,
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  Speaker 2: but it quietly happens just outside of someone's gaze. And
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  Speaker 2: once that child has started to struggle underwater takes that
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  Speaker 2: first breath of water rather than air, then they really
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  Speaker 2: rapidly become weak, lose consciousness, and are not able to
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  Speaker 2: reach up for the top. So knowing that drowning happens quickly,
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  Speaker 2: it can happen in very shallow water, and it's often silent,
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  Speaker 2: is really really important for parents to be aware of.
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  Speaker 3: And I'm stounded when you share those statistics because I mean,
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  Speaker 3: you're saying forty four percent of parents weren't aware of that.
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  Speaker 3: Is there anything else surprising in terms of parental knowledge
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  Speaker 3: parental awareness when it comes to this particular topic.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so around half of parents. We're also not aware
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  Speaker 2: how quickly a child can drown. So a child can
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  Speaker 2: drown in less than twenty seconds.
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  Speaker 4: Wow, that's really not a long.
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  Speaker 2: Period of time if we think about and this is
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  Speaker 2: a classic situation in near drowning type episodes. Nowadays, we
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  Speaker 2: might be on our phone as a parent, you might
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  Speaker 2: stop to read one text message or have a look at,
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  Speaker 2: you know, one image that's popped up on the screen
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  Speaker 2: in that short period of time, you know, twenty seconds
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  Speaker 2: or less, that can be enough for a child to
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  Speaker 2: actually enter that drowning episode. So it's fast, faster than
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  Speaker 2: most people think. And as we say, it's often silent,
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  Speaker 2: and those things are what make it such a deadly
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  Speaker 2: and risky situation for children.
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  Speaker 3: Anthe two things come to mind when you share that.
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  Speaker 3: The first is a news story that I remember from
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  Speaker 3: a few years ago now where a mum ended up
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  Speaker 3: tragically in court because she had been literally just scrolling
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  Speaker 3: Instagram and her little one had been in the bath.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, this isn't even a summertime thing, right, this
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  Speaker 3: is just bathtime, scrolling Instagram. Little one's in the bath,
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  Speaker 3: she's there, didn't notice that her little toddler had stuck
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  Speaker 3: its head under the water and actually inhaled the water
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  Speaker 3: and drowned right there. The other one, the other story.
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  Speaker 3: I'm at pains to share it, but I think again
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  Speaker 3: emphasizing the purpose of this conversation is to emphasize just
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  Speaker 3: how important it is that we keep closely on our kids.
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  Speaker 3: A good friend of mine is a paramedic down in
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  Speaker 3: New South Wales and he was called to a job
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  Speaker 3: where a grandfather had been looking after two little twin
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  Speaker 3: boys toddlers around three years of age. The pool gate
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  Speaker 3: was closed, but it wasn't locked. Somehow the lock hadn't
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  Speaker 3: snapped into place, so he knew that the poolgate was closed. Therefore,
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  Speaker 3: he wasn't supervising the kids particularly closely. They were in
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  Speaker 3: the rumpus room. He was in the kitchen. He thought, Hey,
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  Speaker 3: the kids are pretty quiet. I should go and check
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  Speaker 3: on them. All of a sudden, they weren't in the
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  Speaker 3: rumpest room. He saw the sliding door was open, walked out,
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  Speaker 3: saw the poolgate was open. Couldn't work out what had
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  Speaker 3: happened both of the boys, one had gone and the
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  Speaker 3: other one had followed him, and one had drowned on
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  Speaker 3: the spot. The other one passed away in hospital a
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  Speaker 3: short while later. My friend was the paramedic that was
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  Speaker 3: called to the job, and he described the emotional devastation
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  Speaker 3: of this grandfather as he was coming to grips with
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  Speaker 3: the reality of what had occurred. He said, He's never
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  Speaker 3: seen pain like it when it comes to parents and
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  Speaker 3: their involvement with helping kids to be safe and supervising them.
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  Speaker 3: Can you tell me some more about what your rh
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  Speaker 3: pol found to help kids to be safe.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so just devastating hearing that story justin and sadly
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  Speaker 2: we see cases just like that here in the hospital
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  Speaker 2: every year. And one of the really important things that
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  Speaker 2: is part of that story time and time again is
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  Speaker 2: you know, these are not negligent parents who are choosing
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  Speaker 2: or don't realize that it matters. They understand that it's
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  Speaker 2: important to supervise they kids, and they understand that their
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  Speaker 2: kids probably can't swim. But what people often don't realize
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  Speaker 2: is just how quickly these things can happen. So common
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  Speaker 2: myths that parents, you know, some parents believe are okay,
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  Speaker 2: where things like if you've got older children in the pool,
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  Speaker 2: it's okay to leave your younger child, you know, to
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  Speaker 2: step away to do something just for a moment. Similarly,
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  Speaker 2: in the bath you've mentioned really really important children can
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  Speaker 2: drown in just a few centimeters of water in a bath.
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  Speaker 2: It's not okay to leave a toddler with an older
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  Speaker 2: child without an adult you know, there to supervise. So
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  Speaker 2: those sorts of moments where often it's quick people think oh,
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  Speaker 2: I'm just going to step away for a minute, it
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  Speaker 2: can be enough to have devastating consequences, So this study
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  Speaker 2: really reminds us how much we need to all talk
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  Speaker 2: about this and be aware of this. We also found
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  Speaker 2: interestingly that dads went quite as sharp on their water
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  Speaker 2: safety knowledge as mums when we did the survey, so
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  Speaker 2: dads were more likely to tell us that it might
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  Speaker 2: be all right to you know, leave an older kid
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  Speaker 2: to look after your younger kid in the pool or
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  Speaker 2: in the path for example. Another really important one is
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  Speaker 2: about being at the beach when kids are swimming between
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  Speaker 2: patrolled flags. So we're super lucky here in Australia. We've
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  Speaker 2: got incredible surf life saving you know, skills and services,
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  Speaker 2: but they again don't replace supervision for you of your
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  Speaker 2: own child.
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  Speaker 4: So we found that around.
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  Speaker 2: A quarter of Australian parents thought if they're at the
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  Speaker 2: beach and their kids are swimming between the flags, then
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  Speaker 2: they don't necessarily need to supervise them. Now, we know,
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  Speaker 2: if you picture a busy beach and you know you
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  Speaker 2: live in Queensland, I live in Victoria, so our beach
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  Speaker 2: is you know, maybe not quite as fabulous. But on
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  Speaker 2: a summer's day between the flags there are hundreds, you know,
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  Speaker 2: if not thousands sometimes of kids and just a handful
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  Speaker 2: of surf life savers there to supervise, so they cannot
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  Speaker 2: you know, they do a fabulous job, but they do
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  Speaker 2: not replace your.
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  Speaker 4: Individual supervision of your young child.
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  Speaker 2: So another really important message there for parents as we
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  Speaker 2: head into the holiday season to.
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  Speaker 4: Be aware of that.
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  Speaker 3: When you consider the findings of this poll, what advice,
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  Speaker 3: what are the stats? What other things do we need
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  Speaker 3: to be aware of? And I know that there's probably
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  Speaker 3: a handful of other things that we can pull out
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  Speaker 3: of it that will be really useful over the next
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  Speaker 3: sort of four six eight weeks as parents spend more
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  Speaker 3: time near the water with their kids.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, So the other big one that we asked about
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  Speaker 2: in this study was swimming lessons. So obviously we're all
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  Speaker 2: emerging from a couple of years as a COVID pandemic
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  Speaker 2: and there's been pools closed. Perhaps families haven't been on holidays,
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  Speaker 2: they haven't had a chance to get in the pool
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  Speaker 2: with their kids for a couple of weeks, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: really build those water safety in swimming skills. Around half
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  Speaker 2: of Australian kids have had lost opportunities to build their
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  Speaker 2: swimming skills due to COVID, So that's either missed lessons
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  Speaker 2: or you know, missed a chance to get in the
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  Speaker 2: pool and practice their swimming. So as we head into
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  Speaker 2: the summer, if that's you and your kids, they're a
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  Speaker 2: bit more vulnerable, you know, than they would have been
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  Speaker 2: if they'd kept up those regular swimming lessons and been
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  Speaker 2: a bit more aware of water safety. Of course, swimming
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  Speaker 2: lessons does not replace supervision, and that was again a
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  Speaker 2: really important myth that we found in this study. Some
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  Speaker 2: parents felt if their children have had swimming lessons, then
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  Speaker 2: they probably don't need supervision. They're safe in the water.
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  Speaker 2: And we're talking about young kids here, kids under ten.
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  Speaker 2: Even if they've had lessons, you still need to be
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  Speaker 2: supervising them because you know, you don't necessarily know their
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  Speaker 2: ability is enough to save themselves if a situation is
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  Speaker 2: outside of their ability or control. But those swimming lessons
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  Speaker 2: are a really important thing to get back into. Parents
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  Speaker 2: are not going to have a chance to do that
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  Speaker 2: before the end of the year. I don't know about you,
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  Speaker 2: justment we're all limping to the line here, and they're
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  Speaker 2: certainly looking forward to lots of things wrapping up, including
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  Speaker 2: all those extracurricular activities for the holidays, but definitely a
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  Speaker 2: message for families.
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  Speaker 4: As well next year, re enroll in swimming lessons.
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  Speaker 2: Half of families who had dropped out of these because
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  Speaker 2: of COVID have not got back into those really important
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  Speaker 2: lessons to build those safety skills for their kids, and
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  Speaker 2: most people told us it's because they were too busy
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  Speaker 2: or they hadn't got around to it. They know it's important,
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  Speaker 2: but it's one of those things that you've got.
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  Speaker 4: To factor it in.
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  Speaker 3: I'd imagine that the costs would also be a little
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  Speaker 3: bit of a challenge for a lot of families, especially
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  Speaker 3: as we're watching the current economic situation unfold. Anthea, this
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  Speaker 3: is such an important conversation obviously, with the stories that
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  Speaker 3: I've shared and the statistics that you've brought to the four,
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  Speaker 3: I just so much appreciate you taking some time to
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  Speaker 3: share these ideas on the Happy Families podcast. Are there
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  Speaker 3: any final thoughts, any last words before we wrap this up?
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  Speaker 2: Look, the one parting message really for parents is keep
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  Speaker 2: your eyes on your kids over the summer anywhere around water,
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  Speaker 2: especially if you're in a new environment. If you're in
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  Speaker 2: a mate's place for a barbecue and they've got a pull,
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  Speaker 2: you're down at the beach, gathering with it extended family.
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  Speaker 2: You've gone on holidays, you're somewhere new or different. Those
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  Speaker 2: places especially are where we relax finally, but we might
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  Speaker 2: drop our guard as well, and we're not aware of
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  Speaker 2: the risks. Our kids certainly are not aware of the risks,
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  Speaker 2: and drowning can happen quickly, silently, and it's absolutely devastating.
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  Speaker 4: So be aware, you know.
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  Speaker 2: Not about dramatizing things and taking away all the fun,
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  Speaker 2: but recognizing this is a real risk for kids, particularly
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  Speaker 2: those young kids, kids under ten, and then even more
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  Speaker 2: so kids under five, preschoolers, you know, toddlers, they're the biggest.
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  Speaker 4: Risk age group. We stay at arms reach all the
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  Speaker 4: times around water.
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  Speaker 3: Well supervised, supervised, supervised. Doctor Antheo Rhodes, the director of
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  Speaker 3: the RCH National Child Health Phole, really appreciate you and
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  Speaker 3: spending some time with us again on the podcast. Have
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  Speaker 3: a oneful Christmas, stay safe and I hope we get
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  Speaker 3: to talk to you again next year.
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  Speaker 4: Absolutely you two. Thanks Justin.
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  Speaker 3: It's doctor Antheo Rhodes, the director of the RCCH National
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  Speaker 3: Child Health Whole, on the Happy Families podcast, which is
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: produced by Justin Rowland. For Bridge Media. Craig Bruce is
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: our executive producer, and for more information about making your
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: family safe and happy, visit happy Families dot com, dot
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: a