Launched jointly by the Ministries of Health and Sports, and the National Consumer Institute, the 2023 campaign to prevent the risk of drowning is particularly focused on the vigilance of parents with young children.
“Every summer, more than 500 children are victims of drowning”recall the video spots broadcast as part of the prevention campaign launched in May, with this slogan: “You care about them, don’t take your eyes off them”. This campaign also relays the testimonies of bereaved parents, who talk about the circumstances of the death by drowning of their child.
Thus, Élodie recounts this day in April 2020 when everything changed: at lunchtime, her little Noah, 2 and a half years old, was not in the house with his brother and sister; he entered the garden “all open” of the neighbour, and drowned in his swimming pool. There are also Karine and Véronique, who recount these moments with family or friends that turn tragic: in a few seconds, their young child escaped adult supervision and drowned.
Learn to swim as soon as possible
“No safety device replaces your vigilance”, hammer the video spots. And for good reason, recalls the Ministry of Health: “every summer, children under 6 account for a quarter of accidental drownings. Insufficient supervision is the main cause of drownings for this age group”hence the importance of monitoring “permanent and close to children when swimming”especially in private family swimming pools, where the majority of accidents take place.
To prevent such tragedies from occurring, Public Health France recommends:
- To teach children to swim as early as possible, and to familiarize them with the aquatic environment from an early age;
- To watch the children at all times, to always stay with them when they are playing at the edge of the water and to bathe with them when they are in the water;
- To be particularly vigilant when swimming in “above-ground” swimming pools (not buried) which do not have a safety device;
- Finally, “each child must be constantly and closely supervised by a single adult who takes responsibility for them during bathing time”.
To note : In its latest DROWNING report, which covers the 2021 summer season, Public Health France recorded a total of 1,480 drownings, of which around a quarter had led to death. In children under 6 years old, 6% of drownings are followed by death.