Lifeguards take the lead on unsupervised children

Lifeguards are removing unsupervised children from public pools and taking them to safety zones under new guidelines to prevent drownings.
Initiated by the Royal Life Saving Society Australia (RLSSA), the active supervision of children policy has already been implemented in some council-run pools and in pools managed by the YMCA.
Under the policy (part of the RLSSAâs wider âKeep Watchâ at public pools campaign), children aged under five must have a parent or guardian in the water with them and within arm's reach at all times. Children aged between five and 10 must be close enough to a parent or guardian to make eye contact.
YMCA Group Manager and Aquatics Program Manager Craig Lambeth, who is implementing the policy at YMCA-managed pools, said some parents had reacted badly, stating âunder the policy, our staff have to look at the children in the pool, identify those at risk and physically get into the pool, remove them and take them to a safety zone.
"We get absolutely slaughtered by parents for doing it. They will look for their kids, they can't see them and they will go into a panic.
"But we make no apologies for doing it. We are safeguarding their kids. This policy is a guideline only but I'm sure it would be treated as law in a coroner's court."
The YMCA manages 13 pools in NSW, including the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre and the Cook + Phillip Park Aquatic and Fitness Centre in Sydney.
Lambeth says that parents need to take more responsibility for their children, rather than assuming lifeguards would supervise them, adding âthey haven't been watching their kid and the kid could have drowned. We have some kids in the safety zone for half an hour before anyone realises they are missing."
Children can drown in less than a minute and make up a large proportion of annual drowning statistics.
RLSSA figures show 35 children aged up to four years old died in 2006-07 and 21 children aged five to 14 died in the same period. They make up nearly a fifth of all drownings in Australia.
RLSSA Chief Executive Rob Bradley (who is also Convener of the Australian Water Safety Council), said the âKeep Watchâ campaign was part of a drive to reduce drownings in Australia by 50%t by 2020 He hoped all public pools would implement the policy.
"We just want to remind parents that lifeguards are not baby sitters," Bradley explained, âparents need to realise that the days of dropping their children off at the pool for a few hours while they go to shops are over. It's not acceptable."

http://www.royallifesaving.com.au/www/html/149-keep-watch-overview.asp