Royal Life Saving is urging parents and carers to be extra vigilant after the tragic drowning of an 11-month-old baby in a bathtub in Victoria earlier this week.

Bath time for young kids should be fun, but parents and carers must be mindful that if they are further than an arms’ 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 health manager for Royal Life Saving.

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

The 2005 National Drowning Report showed over the past five years 30 children under five years of age drowned in bathtubs in Australia.

Drowning deaths are preventable. Some important KEEP WATCH safety tips for bath time:

– Before running a bath, have all equipment ready – 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 – Have a small fold up chair in the bathroom to sit on while the children are in the bath – DO NOT LEAVE the bathroom at all for any reason without your child – Never leave an older child with the responsibility of looking after a younger child. – Knowing resuscitation is crucial – enrol in a resuscitation class today – Introduce your child to water through familiarisation classes

While the number of toddler drowning deaths occurring in bathtubs has halved in the last few years, this recent drowning is a tragic reminder to parents to keep watch at bath time.

For further water safety tips and information visit www.keepwatch.com.au