Did you know that on average one young child dies from drowning in a portable pool in Australia every year? In addition to portable pool drowning fatalities, other children who drown will be hospitalised and some left with severe brain damage.

As portable pools become cheaper and more popular, the chance of young children drowning grows, and it’s those children under five years old who are most at risk.

Consumer Protection WA, the ACCC and state and territory consumer protection/product safety regulators have joined forces with Royal Life Saving Society Australia to educate parents and carers about the drowning dangers associated with portable pools, along with general water safety tips to help keep kids safe.

Don’t Duck Out, Make It SAFE tips:

• Supervise – Actively watch children within arm’s reach. Only leave adults in charge of kids.
• Act – Learn CPR. Know to start compressions and breaths as soon as possible when a child is pulled from the water and to call triple zero (000) for help.
• Fence – In WA and most of Australia, swimming pools with more than 30cm of water in them, are legally required to have a compliant safety barrier. Check with your local Council.
• Empty – For pools that don’t need to be fenced, keep watch all day, then pour out water and store away from children, in a place where it can’t refill with rain or sprinkler water.

Your support in promoting this important campaign to the community would be greatly appreciated.

You can find resources including two videos, a factsheet, email signature graphic and much more at www.productsafety.gov.au/makeitsafe. If you’re posting about Don’t Duck Out, Make It SAFE on social, don’t forget to use the hash tags: #DontDuckOut #MakeItSafe.

Help us spread the word to keep kids safe!