Festive season water safety

The festive season is a joyous time, filled with festivities, parties, family gatherings and lots of other exiting activities.

Enjoying a day out by the pool and open water sources is standard during the warmer days. If you want to enjoy swimming to the fullest, one needs to know the basic safety tips.

Negligence by pools, lakes, dams, and different beachfronts along the coast can lead to serious accidents and, in some extreme cases, death.

Having a swimming pool on your premises means you need to be extra cautious and vigilant to ensure everyone’s safety.

These basic swimming pool safety tips will help to keep your family safe.

• Gates and fencing around a swimming pool are a necessity. They will keep small children away from the pool.
• Pool covers, in conjunction with the gate and fencing around the pool, will add to the safety of lives. Pool covers will assist with the prevention of someone falling into the swimming pool. It should prevent them from going under the water.
• Never let your child or anyone else to swim alone in the pool. Having two people in the pool at the same time will provide added safety measures. They will be able to keep an eye on one another and, if anything should happen, help could be called promptly.
• Adults who know how to swim should be around the pool at all times in case of unexpected eventualities.
• Safety inflatable rubber or plastic devices should be readily available and easily accessible so they can be thrown out to aid a victim in trouble.
• Teach your children how to swim and, if possible, provide them with arm bands, noodles and kicker boards if they are not fully skilled at swimming.

It is still the parent`s responsibility to look after the safety of children. Having basic first aid course training behind your name will provide an extra bit of security.

If a major emergency happens, you will be able to conduct basic CPR before arrival of the paramedics. This could mean the different between life and death in some circumstances.

Emergency numbers to keep:

10177: National toll free number.

112: From a cellphone.

011 458 0911: Life threatening Ekurhuleni emergency line.