The summer hadn't even started yet and, last week, there was news of a 3-year-old child who drowned in the swimming pool of a British family's house in Lagoa. This is a tragedy that repeats itself every summer and that's why the APSI – Association for the Promotion of Child Safety again launches the campaign «Death by Drowning is Quick and Silent».
"We don't want another summer like the previous ones," say those responsible for APSI.
«Summer starts today! And with it begins the worst time of the year in terms of drowning with children. Every year, on average, 9 children die as a result of drowning and 32 are hospitalized,” recalls the association.
«It is true that the number of deaths and hospitalizations with children and young people has decreased a lot compared to 2003, the first year in which APSI launched the campaign “Death by Drowning is Quick and Silent”, but the cases of drowning to which we watch every year: they always happen in the same way and are easily avoidable», says Sandra Nascimento, president of APSI.
It's just that, over the past four years, 35 children have died and 129 have been hospitalized. The most critical months are July and August.
Most drownings, reveals the APSI, happen to boys and children from 0 to 4 years of age.
The swimming pools and rivers/ribs/lakes are the places where there is more drowning. «In the pools, it happens with the smallest children, at home or near it, with the adults present; in rivers, streams and lakes with the older children, when they go for a walk or play with friends or family in these places», adds the responsible.
But there doesn't need to be a swimming pool, or even a river. It's just that drowning happens in very little water, it's fast and silent. A bucket of water or a plastic pool is enough for a child to drown. And it can happen to any family.
Click here to find out what steps you should take to prevent children from drowning.
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