World Drowning Prevention Conference

Vietnam May 10-13, 2011

Research-Rescue-Disaster Treatment-Prevention-Collaboration

The Conference Aim

To focus world attention on the global burden of drowning, and especially on the epidemic of drowning deaths in developing countries.

Opening Ceremonies

Four hundred and thirty- five of the world’s leading aquatic industry, lifesaving and drowning research experts joined together in Danang, Vietnam, to participate in the International Life Saving Federation’s World Conference on Drowning Prevention 2011!

Look Sam and I made the conference Newsletter! A local school helped with open ceremonies, very cute!

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Drowning prevention: Challenges and prospects for global progress

Dr. David Meddings - World Health Organization

Drowning - major global public health

challengeInfectious diseases are declining;

drowning deaths are on rise Important to have a genuine and sustained

global interest to address drowning.

Bangladesh•Single leading cause of death after infancy.• Half of the drowning occur between ages of 1-4.•60% of the drowning happen during 9am-1pm•80% of drowning occurs in ponds, ditches, buckets and drums. •80% happen 20 meters of the house.•Children of large families are 2x more vulnerable to drowning than small families

The Problems

Widespread exposure of water bodies

Lack of awareness and supervision

Lack of skill

Looking at entire communities

Injury surveillance-What are the dangers and how can they be fixed?

Safe home-Parents involved right from the start, parents need to learn to swim, the skill passed down generation to generation along with CPR skill

Safe school-In some countries just getting to school can be dangerous (a floating school at a fishing village on Ha Long Bay.)

Safe community-Involve the whole community with the prevention information/not who is to blame but what could have been different.

Prevention Strategies Layers of Protection Improving supervision of

young children under 5 Constant, Active, Vigilant Supervision!

Equipping children 4-10 with life saving swimming skills (not drown proof)

Raising awareness of children ages <18 and parents of water hazards and prevention of drowning

Modifying environmental water hazards through community participation.

A toddler playing peek a boo with us while we were touring the floating markets on the Mekong Delta.

SwimSafe Bangladesh Through a 21-step process,

children are taught to be confident in the water, to develop skills in swimming and floating and how to rescue somebody who is drowning. They are also taught to identify life-threatening water hazards.

SwimSafe Danang The elementary school we visited

Anchals –Safe Haven Daycare programs that offer supervisionMost vulnerable time of the day for injuries

including drowning Most vulnerable age groupsOffers injury prevention education to children

and to care-givers

In the last four years of intervention, 60 injury deaths occurred. Amount of cohort of Creche participants vs non-participants: 4 deaths were participants, 56 were non-participants.

What opportunities are missingSam and I climbed a lot of stairs we didn’t want to miss any part of Ha Long Bay!

What about the preschools and Head Start program here?

Do we have educational opportunities that we are not focusing on or taking full advantage of?

Parent are require to sign information that goes home with children saying that they read it.

Survival Swimming a key focus of the conference

Many different countries slightly different ideas all with one goal to help decrease drowning!

Swim 25 meters, 30 sec treading and rescue techniques

3 lesson, 3 hours, 3 skills 50 meters, one minute

treading and rescue techniques

Dandang SwimSafe elementary school

Does the message matter?Many of the lectures talked about one message,

does it work? As it was put in one lecture, one message for AIDS didn’t help stop the spread of it. “Wear a condom” to one person meant one thing and to another something else.

So you have to look at who you’re trying to reach with your message and be diversified. If you are telling parents to watch their kids around water and be close enough to touch but those are parents who can’t swim -- is that the right messages?

What are the problems in your community?Is it lack of supervision or are there people around

and what we have is LAPSE OF SUPERVISION!Has constant, active, vigilant, close-enough-to-

touch been stressed enough? Does that eye-to-eye supervision just flow out of our mouths too easily ?

Kids swimming lesson needed? YES -but what about our adults? Are we encouraging them to learn to swim?

The Buddy System for adults - is that message getting out there? Never Swim Alone?

Ethnic groups’ fears of water Menstruation blood being trapped in

brain. Rite of passage - having to be thrown in the

water to learn how to swim coming up fighting (from then on fear of water.)

Some have witnessed bodies floating in the water in their homeland.

The fear that water causes illness or rashes, hot or cold, could make you sick.

We want them to stay OUTSIDE fenced area!

Many kids grow up knowing that staying inside the fenced area is a safe place.

Many schools have fences around them now that are wrought iron, high and keep them inside to protect them.

U.S. Coastguard Approved Personal Floatation Devices for any water, anywhere!

•Not just for boats, lakes, rivers or oceans.•Encourage kids and parents to use them in pools, also.

Signage plain, simple, to the point!

•Danger - closely watch your children. It only takes seconds for a child to drown; your child’s safety is your responsibility.•No Diving, Shallow Water. Prevent spine injuries, only enter feet first.•No Prolonged breath holding or underwater swimming. Competitive and repetitive breath holding can be deadly.•Drowning Hazard. Non swimmers should wear life jackets.

Just for you car seat techs, in the room wanted you to share my pain!

Just a normal day on the streets of Vietnam

Thank you all, I learned so much!