afPE Health and Safety Update - June 2010 Water Safety and Sun Protection |
Water testing by PCC has shown that the quality of the water at Oreston Quay at high tide meets the EU 2012 Standards which is better than some of the Blue Flag beaches in the region! People using this area for water sports should still wash their hands before eating or drinking and bath or shower then they get home.
Water Safety
A project funded by RoSPA, and reported in RoSPA's 'Safety Education' Summer 2010 edition, has come up with an interesting conclusion relating to traditional life-saving advice. Instead of immediately attempting to swim or wave for help, researchers at the University of Portsmouth are advocating 'float first'.
Apparently tests have showed that staying as still as possible in the first few minutes after tumbling into water (a major cause of drowning fatality in the UK) increases survival time by enabling air trapped in clothing to keep the head above water and slowing the rate at which the body cools.
This clearly places massive demand and expectation on a less than water confident child in a hostile life -threatening environment so appropriate training and rehearsal seems to be critical to its success.
On a slighter lighter note, a recent Child Safety Education Coalition (CSEC) project on water safety which took part at the National Water Sports Centre, Nottingham included the following quote from a Y6 pupil:
'I learnt how to save people from drowning in the water, by throwing something that floats like a football, or string and stick which I have to hold onto. I enjoyed it'
One hopes that the 'holding onto' does NOT refer to the football!
Sun Protection
Let's hope we continue to experience a bumper summer with lots of opportunity for activity outdoors.
So if the sun intends to be kind to us let's ensure that our pupils adopt sensible precautions and wear suitable clothing, including hats, and utilise sun block wherever necessary.
