Here comes summer!

Let’s make it as safe as we can!
It’s been a long cold winter, but with daylight savings finally here and longer, warmer days, it’s finally feeling like summer is just around the corner – and with it comes both good and bad news……
The good news first…. this year’s National Drowning Report 2016 released by Royal Life Saving in September announced a decrease in the number of children aged 0-4 drowning between July 2015 and June 2016, and a decrease in the number of drowning deaths at Inland Waterways – very encouraging statistics!
The bad news is, there is still much work to be done, as 280 people still lost their lives during the reported period in Australia, including 9 children under the age of 14 drowning in NSW alone, most in backyard swimming pools. NSW recorded the highest number of drownings than any other state with 96 deaths, and males accounted for 91% of all drowning deaths in NSW. 27% of all people who drowned were swimming or playing in the water just prior to drowning.
So let’s look forward to summer, and all the fun in and around the water it will bring, but let’s also, as a community, keep safety at the forefront of our minds at all times, and try to reduce these statistics locally.