Royal Life Saving Australia is urging parents to be vigilant about supervision of their children at bath time, with two children aged 0-5 years drowning in baths every year.

Parents and carers must be mindful, if they are further than an arm’s reach away from their child while they are in the water, they are too far away.

“While parents might think they will only be out of the room for a minute while they fetch a towel or a change of clothes, this absence can be all the time required for a toddler to drown,” said Richard Franklin, national manager for research and health promotion, Royal Life Saving.

“A common misconception of parents is that they believe that by listening out for their child, they will hear their child drown. Drowning is swift and silent and is not accompanied by splashing or crying out.”

Royal Life Saving, Australia’s peak water safety education body, has created the Australia KEEP WATCH program as a public awareness campaign to arrest the toddler drowning rate in Australia.

The 2005 National Drowning Report, released by Royal Life Saving, showed 28 children aged between 0-5 years drowned in the 2004/05 financial year.

Drowning deaths are preventable.

Some important KEEP WATCH safety tips for bath time:

• Before running a bath, have all equipment ready, eg towels, pyjamas, slippers. • If you have a cordless phone, bring the phone into the bathroom. If you do not have a cordless phone, let the phone ring and ignore the doorbell while the children are in the bath.

• DO NOT LEAVE the bathroom at all for any reason. • Never leave an older child with the responsibility of looking after a younger child.

• After bath time ensure the bath tub is drained immediately and keep the bathroom door closed when not in use. • Bath seats or bath aids are not substitutes for constant adult supervision.

• Knowing resuscitation is crucial – enrol in a resuscitation class today • Introduce your child to water through familiarisation classes.

For further information on bath time safety, as well as safety in other aquatic environments, visit www.keepwatch.com.au