As summer hits, YMCA NSW is raising awareness of the importance of pool supervision at its sites across NSW.
Pool safety is everyone’s responsibility. Lifeguards might do the rescuing but parents, guardians and carers play a crucial role in supervising children when they are in the pool.
This important message is part of YMCA NSW’s Safe Summer campaign which promotes pool safety as a partnership between lifeguards and those responsible for children when visiting a YMCA pool or aquatic centre.
YMCA NSW Chief Executive Officer Leisa Hart says: “Here at YMCA NSW we want to make this summer a safe one and we can’t stress enough how important it is for parents, guardians and carers to be vigilant and supervise their children around water.
“While we have lifeguards at all of our YMCA-run aquatic centres across NSW – they need you to do your bit and supervise children properly”
YMCA is recommending the following supervision guidelines at all YMCA’s pools and aquatic centres in NSW[1]:
Keep children five and under within arm’s reach at all times
Constantly supervise children aged 6–10
Regularly check on children aged 11–14
The following guidelines apply for the following guidelines apply for YMCA pools and aquatic centres in the ACT:
Keep children five and under within arm’s reach at all times
Constantly supervise children aged 6–12
Regularly check on children 12 and over
“Phones, devices or any other distraction should be out of sight so you can focus solely on supervising the children in your care” Leisa adds.
Amy Bradley, swimming instructor at the YMCA, says distractions are a real risk when it comes to pool supervision.
“As both a swim teacher and a parent I take pool supervision extremely seriously. Sometimes you only get one chance and you don’t ever want to look back and say ‘why was my phone more important than my child?’”
To improve pool safety YMCA NSW has partnered with Macquarie University to conduct some ground breaking research on safety factors at pools and aquatic centres.
Macquarie University Professor Barbara Griffin says: “We’re looking for factors that hinder detection by lifeguards or parents. That might be moving water, glare, hot days, lots of noise. So these factors can contribute to someone going under and not being recognised.
“This will help provide evidence-based solutions for selecting, training and maintaining the performance of lifeguards to create the safest possible environment at community swimming pools.”
[1] These are general guides only and depend on individual circumstances.
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