Summer the Season for Child Drowning

Summer the Season for Child Drowning

Summer is fast approaching and so is the season for drowning deaths and near drowning
incidents of West Australian children.

Homeowners need to check now to make ensure that pool barriers comply with Australian
Standards and current state regulations. Make sure fences are secure and gates self close and securely latch.

Make sure this summer (and every summer actually) that all children, your own and those of visitors to your home are supervised when in and around water. If you are holding a party and your home has a pool ensure it is securely locked, or, if you plan to use your pool ensure a qualified / competent adult that knows CPR is on duty in the pool area at all times.

Children under 5 years of age are the most at risk of drowning. Between 1995 and 1999,
50 children under the age of 14 years drowned in Western Australia, about half of these
were under 5 years of age. For the same period, 247 children were admitted to WA
hospitals after an immersion incident or near drowning.

Maybe you need to think about hiring a professional Lifeguard for the duration of your party. Crazy? Not really, imagine the medical bills, $900+ for the ambulance alone. How much is a life worth?

Need a lifeguard? Let me know and I will put you in touch with the correct people for the job.

Minimise the risk, make sure no one drowns in your pool and make this a good summer for all of us.

Kev Emery
Professional Lifeguard
Beach Inspector

Blue-Bottles what exactly are they?

BLUE-BOTTLES:
The Portuguese man o' war (Blue Bottle) is composed of three types of medusoids (gonophores, siphosomal nectophores, and vestigial siphosomal nectophores) and four types of polypoids (free gastrozooids, gastrozooids with tentacles, gonozooids, and gonopalpons), grouped into cormidia beneath the pneumatophore, a sail shaped structure filled with gas.[7][9] The pneumatophore should probably not be considered a polyp, as it develops from the planula, unlike the other polyps.[10] This sail is bilaterally symmetrical, with the tentacles at one end. It is translucent, and is tinged blue, purple, pink, or mauve. It may be 9 to 30 cm (3.5 to 11.8 in) long and may extend as much as 15 cm (5.9 in) above the water. The sail is equipped with a siphon. In the event of a surface attack, the sail can be deflated, allowing the organism to briefly submerge.[12]

The other three polyp types are known as dactylozooid (defense), gonozooid (reproduction), and gastrozooid (feeding).[13] These polyps are clustered. The dactylzooids make up the tentacles that are typically 10 m (33 ft) in length, but can reach over 30 m (98 ft).[7][14] The long tentacles "fish" continuously through the water, and each tentacle bears stinging, venom-filled nematocysts (coiled, thread-like structures), which sting and kill adult or larval squids and fishes. Large groups of Portuguese man o' war, sometimes over 1,000 individuals, may deplete fisheries.[9][12] Contractile cells in each tentacle drag the prey into range of the digestive polyps, the gastrozooids, which surround and digest the food by secreting enzymes that break down proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, while the gonozooids are responsible for reproduction.