No measure can ever guarantee that children are safe in, on and around water.  It is only human for adults to sometimes lapse in their supervision of children in the home or while out and about.  Children can and do find ways over fences.  Children who have had swimming lessons can still drown.  For this reason the SwimSAFER message promotes the application of various layers to protect children from drowning – if one layer ‘fails’ then there is another behind it that may save their life.  The layers of protection are:

1. Supervision
2. Barriers
3. Swimming and Water Safety Skills
4. Emergency Action Plan

All the layers of protection need to be employed at the one time.

Did you know  that in March 2009, the American Medical Association’s Archives of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine reported a study by the USA’s National Institute fro Health that concluded:   “Participating in formal swimming lessons was associated with an 88% reduction in the risk of drowning in children between the ages of 1 to 4”.