The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released a revised policy statement on the prevention of drowning. This policy revision includes updates to the AAP’s guidance on swimming lessons for young children, identifies inexpensive portable and inflatable pools as a newly emerging drowning risk, as well as body and hair entrapment in pool or spa drains.

In the new policy, the AAP reinforces its existing recommendation that most children aged 4 and older should learn to swim, and has relaxed its stance on classes for children aged 1-4 years. The previous position was well debated and stated that children under five are not developmentally ready for swimming lessons.

Although the AAP is not recommending mandatory swim lessons for all children aged 1 to 4 years, it now acknowledges that swimming lessons may have a valid role in the context of a multi-layered approach to protection that includes effective pool barriers and constant, capable supervision. It reinforces that swimming lessons will not always prevent drowning and recommends that parents should decide whether to enrol an individual child in swim lessons based on the child’s frequency of exposure to water, emotional development, physical abilities and certain health concerns related to pool water infections and pool chemicals.

In relation to children under 1, the AAP concludes that although there have been anecdotal reports of infants who have “saved themselves” and numerous program promotional DVD’s showing infants apparently swimming independently, no scientific study has clearly demonstrated the safety and efficacy of training programs for such young infants.

Dr. Jeffrey Weiss (lead author of the policy statement and technical report) says “Children need to learn to swim. But not every child will be ready to learn to swim at the same age....and even advanced swimming skills cannot ‘drown-proof’ a child of any age. Parents must also closely supervise their children around water and know how to perform CPR. A four-sided fence around the pool is essential”.

Large, inflatable above-ground pools are also discussed in the new policy statement. As they are considered ‘portable’ these pools are often not included in building codes and therefore do not require fencing. However these pools pose a “constant danger” to children as they have soft sides and it is easy for a child to lean over and fall headfirst into the water.

Both the policy statement and the technical report are already available online via the ‘Pediatrics’ Journal and will be published in the July print issue.

Policy Statement on Drowning Prevention

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/peds.2010-1264v1

Technical Report on Drowning Prevention

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/peds.2010-1265v1

Amy Peden, Royal Life Saving Society – Australia

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