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Speaker 1: It's the Happy Families podcast. It's the podcast for.

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Speaker 2: The time poor parent who just wants answers Now.

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Speaker 1: So a child can drown in less than twenty seconds.

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Speaker 1: It's faster than most people think, and as we say,

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Speaker 1: it's often silent, and those things are what make it

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Speaker 1: such a deadly and risky situation for children. And now

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Speaker 1: here's the stars of our show, my mum and dad.

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Speaker 2: Hello, this is doctor Justin Coulson. As we move so

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Speaker 2: quickly now towards the summer holidays, Christmas is just around

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Speaker 2: the corner, and this is the time where the weather

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Speaker 2: warms up and we start to get into swimming pools. Now,

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Speaker 2: I'm going to share a story as we kick off

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Speaker 2: today's podcast that is a little bit hard to hear,

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Speaker 2: and I just want to, I guess, highlight that I'm

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Speaker 2: not sharing this to be sensationalistic, but to highlight the

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Speaker 2: importance of our conversation today. My guest on the podcast

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Speaker 2: is doctor Anthea Rhodes. Anthea joins me fairly regularly to

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Speaker 2: talk about the RCH National Child Health Pole. Doctor Rhodes

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Speaker 2: is the director of that pole, and there's been a

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Speaker 2: new pole just conducted with results currently being published. Looking

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Speaker 2: at kids and water safety, their capacity to be safe

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Speaker 2: around water, to be swimming, engaging in swimming lessons. And

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Speaker 2: we're heading to the beach that we've got swimming pools,

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Speaker 2: we've got lakes, rivers, whatever it might be. And this

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Speaker 2: is the season where we really need to have this conversation.

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Speaker 2: This conversation is really important to me because my family

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Speaker 2: has come so breathtakingly close to experiencing drowning. Where fortunate

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Speaker 2: that it hasn't occurred. But at a family barbecue a

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Speaker 2: few years ago, probably fifteen years ago. Now it goes

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Speaker 2: really fast to the elder you get, But at a

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Speaker 2: family barbecue around about fifteen years ago, everybody was hanging

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Speaker 2: out of the pool area having a great conversation. The

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Speaker 2: pool area was full of adults who were all having

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Speaker 2: sausages and steak and salad and standing and sitting and

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Speaker 2: just being present. There were kids swimming in the pool.

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Speaker 2: My young cousin, James, who I think at the time

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Speaker 2: was about two, was sitting on the edge of the

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Speaker 2: pool and he slipped into the pool. The thing with

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Speaker 2: drowning is that it's silent, and James just slipped into

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Speaker 2: the pool and nobody noticed. He sunk to the bottom

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Speaker 2: of the pool and had been on the bottom of

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Speaker 2: the pool for an extended period of time before somebody

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Speaker 2: saw him. We dived into the pool, pulled him out,

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Speaker 2: and he was changing color. He was definitely in the

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Speaker 2: process of drowning. Fortunately we were able to see him

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Speaker 2: start breathing again fairly quickly. He vomited up a whole

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Speaker 2: lot of water and he was okay. But another five,

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Speaker 2: ten twenty seconds and the outcome could have been tragic

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Speaker 2: and we would have been attending a funeral rather than

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Speaker 2: celebrating Christmas. So Anthea, thank you so much for joining

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Speaker 2: me for this conversation. That story is one of those

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Speaker 2: awful stories to start off a conversation like this, but

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Speaker 2: I share it because it matters so much. When you

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Speaker 2: did the RCH National Child Health Poll, were you asking

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Speaker 2: and what did you find when it comes to kids

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Speaker 2: and water safety?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks so much for having me on to talk

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Speaker 1: about this really important topic justin and as you say,

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Speaker 1: with summer and holidays around the corner, the risk period

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Speaker 1: really goes up.

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Speaker 3: Now.

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Speaker 1: Your story, unfortunately, is not a rare one, and most

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Speaker 1: people listening will probably know of someone in their extended

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Speaker 1: family or perhaps someone very close to them who has

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Speaker 1: maybe had a near drowning episode. And of course in

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Speaker 1: some situations it's not a near drowning, it can in

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Speaker 1: fact have devastating outcomes. So we ask parents what they

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Speaker 1: know about drowning and the risks of drowning, and one

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Speaker 1: of the biggest findings is exactly as you say, it's

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Speaker 1: that myth that perhaps children struggle or splash or make

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Speaker 1: a lot of noise or do something obvious if they're

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Speaker 1: struggling in the water and starting to drown. In fact,

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Speaker 1: in most instances it's quiet can in fact be silent

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Speaker 1: and often goes unnoticed. So forty four percent of Australian

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Speaker 1: parents didn't know that. They didn't know that drowning is

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Speaker 1: often silent, and so they expect that if they've got

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Speaker 1: half an hour on what's going on, they'll notice, there'll

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Speaker 1: be a commotion, something will happen, the alarm will be raised,

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Speaker 1: and everyone will be aware. But in fact, in studies

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Speaker 1: where they've looked at footage that's been captured incidentally, like

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Speaker 1: CCTV type footage where near drownings or drownings have happened,

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Speaker 1: often there's people standing right alongside the incident, there's adults there,

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Speaker 1: but it quietly happens just outside of someone's gaze. And

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Speaker 1: once that child has started to struggle underwater takes that

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Speaker 1: first breath of water rather than air, then they really

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Speaker 1: rapidly become weak, lose consciousness, and are not able to

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Speaker 1: reach up for the top. So knowing that drowning happens quickly,

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Speaker 1: it can happen in very shallow water, and it's often silent,

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Speaker 1: is really really important for parents to be aware of.

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Speaker 2: And I'm stounded when you share those statistics because I mean,

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Speaker 2: you're saying forty four percent of parents we're aware of that.

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Speaker 2: Is there anything else surprising in terms of parental knowledge

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Speaker 2: parental awareness when it comes to this particular topic.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so around half of parents we're also not aware

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Speaker 1: how quickly a child can drown. So a child can

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Speaker 1: drown in less than twenty seconds.

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Speaker 3: Wow, that's really not a long.

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Speaker 1: Period of time if we think about and this is

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Speaker 1: a classic situation in near drowning type episodes. Nowadays, we

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Speaker 1: might be on our phone as a parent, you might

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Speaker 1: stop to read one text message or have a look at,

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Speaker 1: you know, one image that's popped up on the screen.

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Speaker 1: In that short period of time, you know, twenty seconds

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Speaker 1: or less, that can be enough for a child to

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Speaker 1: actually enter that drowning episode. So it's fast, faster than

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Speaker 1: most people think. And as we say, it's often silent,

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Speaker 1: and those things are what make it such a deadly

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Speaker 1: and risky situation for children.

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Speaker 2: Anth Two things come to mind when you share that.

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Speaker 2: The first is a news story that I remember from

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Speaker 2: a few years ago now where a mum ended up

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Speaker 2: tragically in court because she had been literally just scrolling

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Speaker 2: Instagram and her little one had been in the bath.

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Speaker 2: I mean, this isn't even a summertime thing, right, this

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Speaker 2: is just bathtime, scrolling Instagram. Little one's in the bath,

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Speaker 2: she's there, didn't notice that her little toddler had stuck

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Speaker 2: its head under the water and actually inhaled the water

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Speaker 2: and drowned right there. The other one, the other story.

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Speaker 2: I'm at pains to share it, but I think again

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Speaker 2: emphasizing the purpose of this conversation is to emphasize just

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Speaker 2: how important it is that we keep closely on our kids.

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Speaker 2: A good friend of mine is a paramedic down in

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Speaker 2: New South Wales, and he was called to a job

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Speaker 2: where a grandfather had been looking after two little twin

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Speaker 2: boys toddlers around three years of age. The pool gate

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Speaker 2: was closed, but it wasn't locked. Somehow the lock hadn't

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Speaker 2: snapped into place, so he knew that the pool gate

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Speaker 2: was closed. Therefore, he wasn't supervising the kids particularly closely.

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Speaker 2: They were in the rumpest room. He was in the kitchen.

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Speaker 2: He thought, Hey, the kids are pretty quiet. I should

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Speaker 2: go and check on them. All of a sudden, they

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Speaker 2: weren't in the rumpest room. He saw the sliding door

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Speaker 2: was open, walked out, saw the poolgate was open. Couldn't

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Speaker 2: work out what had happened both of the boys one

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Speaker 2: had gone and the other one had followed him, and

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Speaker 2: one had drowned on the spot. The other one passed

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Speaker 2: away in hospital a short while later. My friend was

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Speaker 2: the paramedic that was called to the job, and he

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Speaker 2: described the emotional devastation of this grandfather as he was

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Speaker 2: coming to grips with the reality of what had occurred.

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Speaker 2: He said, he's never seen pain like it when it

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Speaker 2: comes to parents and their involvement with helping kids to

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Speaker 2: be safe and supervising them. Can you tell me some

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Speaker 2: more about what your rh POL found to help kids

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Speaker 2: to be safe.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so just devastating hearing that story justin and sadly

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Speaker 1: we see cases just like that here in the hospital

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Speaker 1: every year.

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Speaker 3: And one of the.

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Speaker 1: Really important things that is part of that story time

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Speaker 1: and time again is you know, these are not negligent

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Speaker 1: parents who are choosing.

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Speaker 3: Or don't realize that it matters.

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Speaker 1: They understand that it's important to supervise they kids, and

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Speaker 1: they understand that their kids probably can't swim. But what

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Speaker 1: people often don't realize is just how quickly these things

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Speaker 1: can happen. So common myths that parents, you know, some

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Speaker 1: parents believe are okay, where things like if you've got

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Speaker 1: older children in the pool, it's okay to leave your

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Speaker 1: younger child, you know, to step away to do something

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Speaker 1: just for a moment. Similarly, in the bath you've mentioned,

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Speaker 1: really really important children can drown in just a few

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Speaker 1: centimeters of water in a bath. It's not okay to

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Speaker 1: leave a toddler with an older child without an adult

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Speaker 1: you know, there to supervise. So those sorts of moments

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Speaker 1: where often it's quick people think oh, I'm just going

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Speaker 1: to step away for a minute, it can be enough

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Speaker 1: to have devastating consequences.

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Speaker 3: So this study.

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Speaker 1: Really reminds us how much we need to all talk

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Speaker 1: about this and be aware of this.

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Speaker 3: We also found interestingly that dads went.

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Speaker 1: Quite as sharp on their water safety knowledge as mums

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Speaker 1: when we did the survey, so dads were more likely

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Speaker 1: to tell us that it might be all right to

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Speaker 1: you know, leave an older kid to look after your

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Speaker 1: younger kid in the pool or in the path for example.

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Speaker 1: Another really important one is about being at the beach

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Speaker 1: when kids are swimming between patrolled flags. So we're super

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Speaker 1: lucky here in Australia. We've got incredible surf life saving

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Speaker 1: you know, skills and services, but they again don't replace.

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Speaker 3: Supervision for you of your own child.

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Speaker 1: So we found that around a quarter of Australian parents

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Speaker 1: thought if they're at the beach and their kids are

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Speaker 1: swimming between the flags, then they don't necessarily need to

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Speaker 1: supervise them. Now, we know, if you picture a busy

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Speaker 1: beach and you know you live in Queensland, I live

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Speaker 1: in Victoria, so our beach is you know, maybe not

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Speaker 1: quite as fabulous. But on a summer's day between the

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Speaker 1: flags there are hundreds, you know, if not thousands sometimes

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Speaker 1: of kids and just a handful of surf life savers

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Speaker 1: there to supervise, so they cannot you know, they do

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Speaker 1: a fabulous job, but they do not replace your individual

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Speaker 1: supervision of.

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Speaker 3: Your young child. So another really.

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Speaker 1: Important message there for parents as we head into the

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Speaker 1: holiday season to be.

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Speaker 3: Aware of that.

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Speaker 2: When you consider the findings of this poll, what advice,

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Speaker 2: what are the stats? What other things do we need

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Speaker 2: to be aware of? And I know that there's probably

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Speaker 2: a handful of other things that we can pull out

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Speaker 2: of it that will be really useful over the next

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Speaker 2: sort of four six eight weeks as parents spend more

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Speaker 2: time near the water with their kids.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, So the other big one that we asked about

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Speaker 1: in this study was swimming lessons. So obviously we're all

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Speaker 1: emerging from a couple of years as a COVID pandemic

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Speaker 1: and there's.

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Speaker 3: Been pools closed.

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Speaker 1: Perhaps families haven't been on holidays, they haven't had a

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Speaker 1: chance to get in the pool with their kids for

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Speaker 1: a couple of weeks, and you know, really build those

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Speaker 1: water safety in swimming skills. Around half of Australian kids

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Speaker 1: have had lost opportunities to build their swimming skills due

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Speaker 1: to COVID, So that's either missed lessons or you know,

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Speaker 1: missed a chance to get in the pool and practice

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Speaker 1: their swimming. So as we head into the summer, if

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Speaker 1: that's you and your kids, they're a bit more vulnerable,

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Speaker 1: you know, than they would have been if they'd kept

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Speaker 1: up those regular swimming lessons and been a bit more

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Speaker 1: aware of water safety. Of course, swimming lessons does not

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Speaker 1: replace supervision, and that was again a really important myth

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Speaker 1: that we found in this study. Some parents felt if

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Speaker 1: their children have had swimming lessons, then they probably don't

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Speaker 1: need supervision. They're safe in the water. And we're talking

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Speaker 1: about young kids here, kids under ten. Even if they've

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Speaker 1: had lessons, you still need to be supervising them because

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Speaker 1: you know, you don't necessarily know their ability is enough

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Speaker 1: to save themselves if a situation is outside of their

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Speaker 1: ability or control. But those swimming lessons are a really

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Speaker 1: important thing to get back into. Parents are not going

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Speaker 1: to have a chance to do that before the end

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Speaker 1: of the year. I don't know about you, justment we're

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Speaker 1: all limping to the line here, and they're certainly looking

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Speaker 1: forward to lots of things wrapping up, including all those

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Speaker 1: extracurricular activities for the holidays.

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Speaker 3: But definitely a message for families as well next year

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Speaker 3: re enroll in swimming lessons.

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Speaker 1: Half of families who had dropped out of these because

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Speaker 1: of COVID have not got back into those really important

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Speaker 1: lessons to build those safety skills for their kids. And

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Speaker 1: most people told us it's because they were too busy

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Speaker 1: or they hadn't got around to it. They know it's important,

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Speaker 1: but it's one of those things that you've got to.

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Speaker 3: Factor it in.

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Speaker 2: I'd imagine that the costs would also be a little

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Speaker 2: bit of a challenge for a lot of families, especially

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Speaker 2: as we're watching the current economic situation unfold. Anthea, this

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Speaker 2: is such an important conversation obviously, with the stories that

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Speaker 2: I've shared and the statistics that you've brought to the four,

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Speaker 2: I just so much appreciate you taking some time to

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Speaker 2: share these ideas on the Happy Families podcast. Are there

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Speaker 2: any final thoughts, any last words before we wrap this up?

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Speaker 1: Look, the one parting message really for parents is keep

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Speaker 1: your eyes on your kids over the summer anywhere around water,

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Speaker 1: especially if you're in a new environment. If you're in

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Speaker 1: a mate's place for a barbecue and they've got a pool,

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Speaker 1: you're down at the beach, gathering with it, extended family,

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Speaker 1: you've gone on holidays, you're somewhere new or different.

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Speaker 3: Those places especially are.

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Speaker 1: Where we relax finally, but we might drop our guard

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Speaker 1: as well, and we're not aware of the risks. Our

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Speaker 1: kids certainly are not aware of the risks, and drowning

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Speaker 1: can happen quickly, silently, and it's absolutely devastating. So be aware,

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Speaker 1: you know, not about dramatizing things and taking away all

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Speaker 1: the fun, but recognizing this is a real risk for kids,

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Speaker 1: particularly those young kids, kids under ten, and then even

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Speaker 1: more so kids under five, preschoolers, you know, toddlers, they're

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Speaker 1: the biggest.

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Speaker 3: Risk age group. We stay arms reach all the times

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Speaker 3: around water.

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Speaker 2: Well supervised, supervised, supervised. Doctor Antheo Rhodes, the director of

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Speaker 2: the RCH National Child Health Phole, really appreciate you and

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Speaker 2: spending some time with us again on the podcast. Have

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Speaker 2: a wonderful Christmas, Stay safe and I hope we get

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Speaker 2: to talk to you again next year.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely you two. Thanks Justin.

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Speaker 2: It's doctor Antheo Rhodes, the director of the RCCH National

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Speaker 2: Old Health Whole, on the Happy Families podcast, which is

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Speaker 2: produced by Justin Rowland from Bridge Media. Craig Bruce is

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Speaker 2: our executive producer, and for more information about making your

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Speaker 2: family safe and happy, visit Happy Families dot com, dot

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Speaker 2: a